From Ashes
by GrimReaper1373
Summary: After the defeat of Trigon, his hellish armies are still united and wreaking havoc across The Realm, an alternate dimension controlled by Death himself. During the war, Death's son, Reaper, loses his family to the invading forces, casting him off on a mission to find an Azarathian woman on Earth and bring her back, in the hopes that she can help him exact vengeance on the demons.
1. Prologue

_Far beneath the floating city of Azarath, in a dimension separate from our own, a war rages on. One faction consists of the Anima Comedenti, a race of mostly benevolent beings who seek to protect their world and who are led by Death himself, along with his wife and his first son, Reaper. The other is made up of demonic creatures grouped together under one name; the Vehements. These former minions of the recently deceased demon lord Trigon are led by Reaver, the second son of Death. He has defected from the Comedenti, betraying even his own family to gain power, taking advantage of the Vehement's recent loss of leadership to reform an army of evil. The Comedenti have been overrun by surprise attacks on their capital city, and their military forces are currently taking refuge in the Black Citadel, the home of the Royal Family. This is where the story begins._

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

Reaper awoke to the sound of ringing in his ears, followed by the muffled noise of gunfire in the distance. As the soldier regained his senses, he realized that the gunshots were not as distant as he first thought, and his still blurred vision revealed that there were bipedal shapes moving about the room, quick flashes of light emanating from their weapons. He blinked a few times to try and clear his sight, to some avail, allowing him to see that one of the shapes was rushing towards him. "Do not tou-,"he mumbled, but was cut off by someone's shouts.

"Sir! Sir! Reaper, wake up!"it shouted before hands were placed on his shoulders. After it became apparent that Reaper was practically immobile, whoever it was pulled him to his feet and draped his arm over their shoulders. They began to walk forward, pulling the recovering Reaper along with them and using one of their wings to shield him from behind. "I need to get you out of here, but I can not do it alone. You must help,"the voice said, giving Reaper the strength to place one foot in front of the other as his mind began to reboot.

"What happened?"Reaper grumbled, his mind still trying to reboot.

"Those cowards brought heavy weapons with them and fired a rocket into our defenses. Most of the men were incinerated. You got lucky,"the man explained. Reaper nodded his head slowly in remembrance, his eyes and ears clearing up. He realized that he was still in the tower that was his home, where he and his family of royal blood resided.

"How many defenders are left?"he asked.

"I am not sure. You are the only one I have seen, sir,"he replied once they came through a large double-doorway. "I need to get these doors shut. Keep going. Your mother and father are in the throne room." Reaper nodded and continued slowly on his path towards the rear of the structure, placing his hand on his stomach and glancing around at what could very well be the last view of his ancestral home. Dark banners still hung from the pillars that held the entrance hall's ceiling up, emblazoned with skulls and crossed scythes, and the black carpet beneath him was barely even wrinkled. The Comedenti had done an admirable job in holding the demons to the outside of the tower, but the defenses couldn't stand forever. Eventually this hall would be ransacked and doused in flames, but for now, it was untouched, and Reaper decided that he would die before it laid in ruin.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Reaper entered the throne room and was greeted by the disarming sight of his parents wrapping their arms and wings around each other as if it would be their final embrace. However, when they saw Reaper, his mother broke away and rushed over. "Reaper, you are alive,"she sighed anxiously, pulling him into a hug.

"We heard explosions and thought the worst,"Death said as he walked over.

"I am fine, but you both need to get out of here. They will be gathering for another attack soon,"Reaper replied as his mother released him, a soft smile on her face.

"We are not going to leave our son, Reaper. Not even for this,"she stated.

"Bu-,"Reaper began, but his father cut him off first,"That is final, son. If we die, then we die together."

"We are not going to die, so do not talk like that. The civilians have already escaped and the men can hold the Vehements back long enough for us to join them,"Reaper argued.

Death opened his mouth to talk sense into his son, but before he could speak, the soldier that had helped Reaper before ran in. "They have broken through the defenses! Your brother is with th-,"he shouted before a series of explosions rocked the building and a cacophony of demonic screams filled the air. Ringing blasted back into Reaper's ears again as he was thrown to the ground next to his parents. Managing to land on his hands and knees allowed him to swiftly recover however, getting back on his feet, but it was in vain because another explosion blew the wall near him to pieces, sending him and the others in the room careening into the far wall. They hit the floor and rolled separate ways, giving Reaper a clear view of the events that were about to unfold.

His brother, Reaver, stepped slowly and ominously through the new hole and the flames resulting from the blast, his closest advisers and lieutenants flanking him on both sides. He raised his armored hand and the Comedenti soldier near him ignited in flames, screaming in agony for a short time until he died.

"I love that sound,"Reaver grinned malevolently, earning a bout of evil laughter from the demons around him, their lava-red eyes glowing eerily in the smoke-filled room. He continued forward, past the incinerated corpse and to the center of the room, his own red eyes scanning for the other occupants. His gaze came to rest upon his mother and he headed towards her unmoving body.

While Reaver was occupied, Reaper heard a soft cough behind him. "Son,"Death muttered, causing him to slowly and painfully roll over. "You do not...have much time. There is a side room next to us, and inside...on a table...is a small case,"he said, every few words interrupted by sharp grunts of pain and winces. "Inside of it, there is a picture...of a place that you must get to. I will...distract your brother to give you a cha-"

"No, Father, I am not leaving you here!"Reaper interrupted quietly, yet defiantly. The last thing he wanted to do was leave his parents to die.

"Reaper...you need to go,"Death told his son, looking him in the eyes. "Otherwise, our race ends here. Please, go and live to f-fight another day. P-promise me that you will get vengeance on Reaver for his crimes and s-save yourself."

Reaper glanced over at Reaver and his henchmen, realizing that the best thing he could do was what his father was proposing: survive. If he didn't, then the demons would invade other realms, billions would die, and the balance between life and death would be broken. He looked back at Death and gave him a subtle nod. "I promise."

"Then you need to find an Azarathian woman and her com-companions near the picture's location. They are the only ones w-who can help you fight back. Understand?"

"I understand,"Reaper answered sadly, although all he really understood was that this was the last time he'd see his family. "I am sorry that I could not stop this."

"Do not blame yourself. I mean it. Y-your mother and I love you, Reaper. Always remember that."

"I will. Goodbye, Father."

"G-goodbye, Son. Now go!"his father said, pushing himself to his feet as black energy formed armor around him and a blade manifested itself in his hands. With that, he let out an angry war cry and rushed Reaver's lieutenants, his wings spread wide and his mind set on killing as many demons as possible as he threw himself at their ranks.

Meanwhile, Reaper jumped to his feet and sprinted towards the door, angry and pained shouts along with the whooshing of the all of the demon's hellfire filling the room behind him. He located the case his father spoke of as soon as he entered the room, fumbling with it for a few seconds before he got it open. He snatched the picture out of it, but not before one of the demons ran through the door behind him, blasting him with a non-lethal stream of fire and launching him over the table and into the wall.

The demon hissed as it stalked towards Reaper before a portal opened up next to the creature, momentarily drawing it's attention as Reaper got to his feet and two submachine guns phased into his hands. He leveled them at the demon and pulled the triggers, spraying it with bullets and causing it to step backwards from the force, giving him the moments necessary to run and dive through the portal, leaving his realm, and his home, behind.

* * *

 **AN: Hello, everyone who read this far. Of course, it was probably pretty easy since this is just the prologue, and therefore, rather short. But anyways, thanks for giving my story a chance. This isn't my first fic, or even my first attempt at this particular story, but this is the first one I'll be keeping on FF. I posted the previous version of this one on here last year, but I'll be honest by saying that one was much different, and rather awful. Thankfully, my writing has evolved significantly since then, and now I also have a beta-reader to help me keep it from devolving, so thanks to Infernokota for that.**

 **Now, I know that most Teen Titans stories focus mainly on the Titans themselves, and that I'm taking a risk by writing mine around an OC, but I can say for certain that I will be trying my best to make it just as interesting as other, well-written fics. So, I hope that everyone who has come this far will like the chapter and continue reading through the story. Realistically, I know it won't appeal to everyone, and I'm fine with that. All I ask is that, if you find something wrong with it, you'll include it in a review if you can find the time. I'm open to both praise and constructive criticism alike, so don't worry about hurting my feelings. I won't hold the story hostage for reviews or anything like that, and I'll try to get a chapter out at least once a week. Again, thanks to everyone who at least viewed this fic and finished the chapter.**


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello, everyone, it's me, back with another chapter. This one's rather short, and it's about as lengthy as the prologue, but don't worry. Most of the chapters in this will likely be much longer, and I can go ahead and tell you that my next one will be in the 3,000 word range. Aside from that, I'd like to thank lunaticmeap for providing the story with its first review, as well as being its first follower. It took me four chapters in my first version to achieve that, so I suppose this means that I've improved my writing style. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up and draw in a large group of continuous readers. But anyways, here's Chapter 1, and I hope that whoever has read this far will enjoy it, and I'll return sometime next week with Chapter 2.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1**

In the dead of a dark and stormy night, deep in the heart of the expansive forest that separated Jump City from the mountains, a portal began to take shape in a clearing. After reaching a threshold roughly the size of a full-grown human male, it stabilized enough to show a melee taking place on the other side. The warped sound of gunshots could be heard through it, along with screams of agony and rage as a figure burst through.

Reaper was met immediately by pounding rain and gusting wind, but he didn't seem the least bit phased by the weather, instead flipping over onto his backside and scrambling backwards until he hit a tree. He hurriedly tried to shut the portal, but it was too late. The demon that had been pursuing him jumped through, the bullet-holes he'd filled it with beginning to close up.

The red-skinned monster's eyes were ablaze, its face twisted into an angry snarl, although that wasn't much different from their kind's usual features. As the portal closed completely, the demon rose to its full height, a foot past the average six feet that this variant of demon-kind frequently rounded up to. "You will make an excellent trophy,"it growled.

Reaper pushed himself up the trunk of the tree he'd collided with, mentally preparing himself for a tough fight, also forming thin, black combat armor around his torso and legs. "Assuming you are not too weak to incapacitate me. Your kind has always been unintelligent,"he replied, attempting to use the beast's unrefined rage against it. The demon took the bait, rushing towards Reaper with a loud roar and launching a horned fist towards his head.

Reaper quickly shifted his head over, dodging the fist before bringing his palm up into the arm it was connected to, knocking it upwards then launching his armored boot into the demon's gut, sending it reeling back to it's initial position. "Too slow, you fool. Try once more, with feeling,"he said, egging his opponent on.

"I will kill you!"the demon barked, attacking this time with both fists engulfed in hellfire. Reaper allowed it to get close before he formed a portal between them, letting the creature rush through before opening the exit portal in front of a tree. In a display of rather comedic stupidity, the demon slammed right into it, humiliating itself as it fell onto its rear from the force.

"Collision alert,"Reaper prodded, making his way towards the seemingly immobile beast. He underestimated his foe, however, and was swiftly met with a blast of fire from its hand, launching him away and onto his back. He laid there for a few moments before shaking his head and trying to sit up, but a clawed foot kicked him in the chest, knocking him back down.

The demon wrapped a hand around Reaper's throat, lifting him off the ground until his feet left the dirt before looking him in the eyes. "Mocking me was not a good idea,"it hissed, a blade extending from a hole in its arm.

"Just get it over with,"Reaper muttered before the demon grinned malevolently, bringing its arm back to deliver the killing blow.

As the monster rammed the blade forward, Reaper opened a small portal in front of his stomach. As the weapon neared, it instead entered the rift, coming out behind the demon. The beast's grin instantly evaporated as it realized what had happened. It looked down at its own abdomen, seeing that it had impaled itself with the blade meant for Reaper. The portal suddenly closed, severing the arm as the demon dropped its prey-turned-predator and stumbled away slightly, a rare look of shock on its face.

Reaper stood up from where he was dropped, chuckling quietly from beneath the hood that had managed to stay on his head. "You should have known that you would fall by the end of this day,"he taunted, stepping towards his opponent once again without fear of repercussions. The creature fell to its knees before its killer, looking up at Reaper with a new emotion in its eyes: fear. Reaper didn't give it the chance to speak again, though, warping a pistol into his hand before leveling it at his enemy's head and pulling the trigger. The demon's body dropped before a second had even passed, all life leaving the corpse.

"Your death will be just one of many on my road to vengeance,"Reaper finished, his gun disappearing as he turned to leave.

* * *

It didn't take him long to reach the outer bounds of the forest, although the rain and wind had picked up significantly by the time he did, making the trees sway violently as he wove through them. He managed to keep his mind off of recent events by focusing on the task ahead of him and the city he occasionally glimpsed through the rustling leaves. His father had told him to find some Azarathian woman and her friends, but he had no clue where to even begin his search.

He had never seen Azarath in his short life, let alone it's inhabitants. All he knew was that they had something to do with the beginning of the Comedenti and that they lived high above the Realm's clouds. His father informed him that the one he was searching for would be nearby, but not how close. She could be in the mountains, somewhere in the forest that surrounded him, or even underground. He'd chosen to head towards the city simply because he knew information would be easy to come by there.

His thoughts were cut short as he stepped up to the edge of the forest, looking out over the city from his vantage point on a large hill. He saw structures of differing height as far as the eye could see surrounding a large bay of water. Far out in the center of that was a towering building on an island, although that was all he could make out because of the darkness and heavy rain caused by the storm. Looking down at the street at the bottom of the hill, Reaper could make out very few people on the sidewalks, along with an equal amount of cars. Still, that was all Reaper needed in order to know that he wasn't in the Realm anymore. The figures below lacked the wings that all Comedenti had, and the vehicles were of a completely different design than the ones where he used to live.

The fact that he was on Earth changed everything. Reaper knew that stealth would be his only option for awhile, especially since humans were an easily startled race. He could only imagine the hysteria he'd cause if he was seen strolling down the city streets, his wings in full view of everyone. He realized that finding intel would be much harder now, mainly because he wouldn't be able to easily eavesdrop or look through public archives. But he decided not to be worry about that now. Right now, he needed a place to hide from both demons, and humans, and fretting about other things wasn't helping in the slightest. He waited until there were no cars or people in his line of sight, then he flapped his wings to lift himself into the air before flying off.

* * *

After searching extensively for any place even remotely resembling shelter, Reaper finally settled on breaking into one of an apartment complex's upper rooms. He flitted about outside of a few of them, focusing on the interiors to assure himself that there were no people inside. After landing on an empty room's balcony, he looked into it before teleporting onto the other side of the glass door so as not to cause a racket. Glad to be out of the rain, Reaper finally let his armor dissipate, leaving behind his still dry hoody, pants, and combat boots, which were all black. Even though he was exhausted, both mentally and physically, tending to his wounds and hygienic needs was necessary, especially since his face and his hair were caked in both demon and and Comedenti blood.

He immediately headed for the bathroom, quietly shutting the door behind him. He then stripped down completely, folding his clothes and placing them neatly on the shelf beside the sink before getting into the shower. He turned the cold water on full blast after closing the curtain, letting the water run down his body and wash the blood down the drain along with the sorrow that plagued him.

After a half-hour of being cleansed by soap and water, Reaper got out of the shower and dried off, pulling his pants back on before stepping in front of the mirror above the sink. His short, jet black hair was clean, but somewhat disheveled and in need of combing. He contorted his mouth into a grin, allowing him to make sure that all of his sharp teeth were still in place. Finding everything to be in order, he looked at the only colorful feature on his body: his unusually bright green eyes. There were dark circles under them, completing the visage of his bony, exhausted face. He felt like just crawling into the bed and passing out from how tired he was, but there was still one more thing he needed to tend to.

Looking down, he saw that his scrawny, nearly colorless body was dotted with numerous and easily visible cuts and bruises, some of which were larger than others. He slowly turned around to get a better view of his back, seeing that he wasn't faring any better there. He faced the mirror again before he warped a bundle of gauze into his hand, beginning to gently wrap the fabric around his torso.

Being in the Comedenti military for two years had caused him to become familiar with this practically weekly ritual of giving himself medical attention, especially since he'd fought all kinds of dangerous creatures in those two years. From mutant beasts native to the Realm that he called home, to the demonic forces of Hell that probably still hunted him, they'd all left their own unique marks on him, which manifested themselves as scars that mingled with each new laceration, scratch, or burn mark that adorned his body.

Most Comedenti soldiers saw their own respective scars as signs of deserved respect or honor, but Reaper just thought that each one made him uglier, and that was why he typically wore clothing that would cover them up. But of course, his appearance was the last thing on his mind right now. As of a few hours ago, his thoughts had shifted from everyday concerns, to what he was going to do about his estranged brother, and how he was going to find a single person in this foreign city; the term 'needle in a haystack' was never more relevant than now.

Finishing up with the gauze, Reaper teleported what was left away. The cloth was irritating and in the way, but he didn't care. He tiredly warped his undershirt back on and took his hoody from the shelf, moving back into the main room and instantly to the bed. He simply laid down, placed the hoody behind his head for a pillow, and drifted off to sleep, hoping that the next day would be easier, and have less grief, than this one.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

The next day, Reaper woke to the sound of voices in the hallway, a small amount of light streaming into the room. The rain hadn't abated and the clouds still lingered, but he could tell that it was indeed morning. He groggily sat up and looked out the balcony door as everything that had happened the day before came rushing back. "Ugh,"he groaned quietly, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration, all of his sorrow and anger filling his mind. Paired with persistently freakish dreams throughout the night, it was already giving him a headache.

Suddenly, the voices he'd heard outside stopped at his door, causing his eyes to widen. He could tell that they were slurring their words slightly, and then he heard the jangling of keys. Without waiting another moment, Reaper grasped his hoody from beneath his head, rolled off of the mattress to grab his boots, and jumped up with speedy efficiency.

Lacking the concentration needed to open a portal, he tore the balcony door open and ran through just as the people got into the room. He knew that they'd see him if he started flying immediately, so he instead launched himself up to the next floor's balcony. He'd left the glass door open, allowing him to hear the humans and their reactions if they'd seen him. Fortunately, all he heard was an,"I love you," and a female's drunken giggle.

Not wanting to stick around to see why he'd heard that, he warped his hoody and boots on before hovering upwards above the building. Once he was high enough, he leaned forward and flew towards the downtown area of the city, making sure he stayed hidden in the lower wisps of the clouds.

* * *

Perching atop one of the taller buildings in the city, Reaper watched the streets below as he tried to gather his options in his head. He needed information, and in a human city, it'd be hard to come by. Walking the streets and listening for clues to the Azarathian's whereabouts was out of the question, as was searching well-traveled establishments across the city. He couldn't simply waltz into a library and look through public records. For all he knew, the humans could be oblivious to her location just as he was.

Having trouble coming up with anymore ideas, he decided to go back over the ones he'd already thought about. The most promising one of those was the one involving libraries. He wouldn't be able to go right through the front door, but perhaps if he waited until night came back around, he could sneak into one in the less populated sections of the city, which he still didn't even know the name of. Just something else he could figure out by going with that plan.

But he'd still have to wait, and by the sound of his empty stomach growling, he'd have some trouble with that unless he searched for food. For that, he'd have to find a storeroom of some kind, and as far as he knew, those only existed in the backs of food markets. Finding one of those downtown would be too risky, so he jumped from his vantage point and began flying towards the area of the city with much shorter structures that were farther apart from one another.

Thankfully, he didn't have to look far for a grocery store. Not even ten minutes from the start of his search, he found one that had a mostly closed-off and out-of-the-way back alley behind it that was surrounded by the rears of other buildings. Deeming it worth the effort, Reaper dove down to where he could get a clear line of sight on his landing zone before slowing down to open a portal that would drop him there.

Making a landing maneuver in mid-air, he fell through the portal and landed in a kneeling position, startling an alley cat and causing it to hiss and scamper off. Glancing to his left and right, Reaper made sure no one else was there to witness his landing before standing up. Still cautious, he pressed himself against the store's brick wall so that he was mostly hidden by a dumpster. Crouching low, he moved towards the back door.

Luckily, he made it without being spotted and took hold of the handle, pulling the door open just enough for him to fit through. It's rusty hinges squealed a little, but peaking around the corner, he could tell there was no one inside to hear it. From what he could see through the double doors leading into the storefront, the lights were off and the place seemed to be closed. It was still early morning, so that came as no surprise; some things didn't change from one dimension to another.

Squeezing into the storage area, Reaper finally let his guard down and turned to shut the door tightly behind him. However, the luck that had favored him getting here just ran out. From the corner of his eye, he saw movement and then whoever it was stopping as it noticed him. Slowly turning his head to look at the figure, he saw that it was indeed a person as he'd feared. "What in the world?"the man said.

"Um...,"was all Reaper could come up with as an immediate reply before he formed actual words. "Do not do anything rash. I just need food,"he reasoned, hoping that it was too dark for his wings to be overly visible. Unfortunately, the human's eyesight was better than he thought, and the frightened man's immediate reaction was to run.

"They always run,"Reaper muttered. He couldn't afford to be spotted right now, so his only option was to teleport directly in front of his new target, stopping the man dead in his tracks.

"P-please don't hurt me,"the human squeaked, shirking away from Reaper in fear and putting his hands in front of his face.

"I apologize for this,"was all Reaper said, teleporting again, this time behind the man so he could wrap his arms around his throat. He could've easily broken his neck, but Reaper wasn't the ruthless, 'do anything to win' type, so he instead opted to choke his target until he passed out. Slowly lowering him to the ground, Reaper released him and stepped over the body to look into the storefront. After ensuring that no one else would be sneaking up on him, he pulled the human into the corner. Once that was done, Reaper stepped away and looked around the room, seeing a plethora of boxes to rifle through.

His stomach growling much louder now, he swiftly went about his task, warping a combat knife into his hands to make short work of the cardboard. By the time he was done with a few of them, he could already tell that he'd hit the jackpot. He could see a bunch of cans in one box and bottled water in another, which, in it's own right, was great, but he decided to find a couple more. Continuing his search, he found that there was also a box filled to the brim with smaller boxes of saltines, and another lined with jars of food he'd never even seen before.

Although he wanted to keep rooting through the containers for as long as possible, he could tell that the human was getting restless in his sleep, so he phased the boxes he'd opened so far out of that reality before heading for the door. Once he was outside, he shot up into the air and flew towards another group of apartments with the speed and purpose of a starving vulture hunting for sustenance.

* * *

Arriving at what appeared to be a fancier version of the apartments he'd visited before, Reaper went through the same procedure he'd used earlier for finding an empty room, except now he had to be more careful because the rooms were more spacious here. Finally settling on one at the top floor, he landed on it's balcony and peered inside before teleporting past the door, pulling down his hood as he did so.

Although the building was similar on the outside to the one before, the accommodations here seemed more permanent. It had a separate area for the bed and bathroom, and the part he stood in was a living room and a kitchen combined into one. By human standards, it was mediocre, at best, but for a Comedenti refugee in a strange land, it was more than he'd hoped for.

As his first order of business in his new home, Reaper took a chair from the small dining table in the kitchen and carried it over to the front door, pushing the back of it up under the doorknob to avoid a repeat of that morning. After finishing that, he immediately headed for the kitchen to begin preparing the food he'd pilfered.

When he first saw this place, Reaper had thought that the human's world would be full of much more high-tech and confusing appliances, but he'd been disappointed; the can opener, microwave, and refrigerator were all things they had where he was from. This allowed him to easily maneuver around the kitchen and fix a small meal, though, so he wasn't complaining. Within fifteen minutes, he'd thrown together a bowl of soup to keep himself nourished for the rest of the day, considering that the light outside was dimming quickly.

He would need to get going soon if he wanted to survey a library, so without further ado, he sat in the remaining chair at the table and began clearing his plate, or rather, his bowl. Armed with a spoon and some crackers, he swiftly inhaled the vegetable soup, occasionally taking lengthy drinks from a water bottle. The soup was lukewarm and the water even warmer, but he didn't mind. This was the best meal he'd had in weeks, and it wasn't even ten minutes before he was done.

Wiping his mouth with a towel, Reaper placed the bowl in the sink, not even bothering to wash it out before he headed towards the balcony. Pulling the sliding door open, he stepped out into the fresh air. The rain had finally stopped while he'd been inside, with the wind calming and the skies clearing as well. Combined with the low-light conditions that night brought, these were ideal conditions to start his flight. Pulling his hood back over his head, he vaulted over the railing and spread his wings.

* * *

Figuring that the largest library would hold the best collection of newspaper archives and records, Reaper had returned downtown. Night had completely fallen by now, allowing him to fly closer to the ground and easily spot the public library, which had the words _Jump City Library_ inscribed above the entrance. He could tell through the upper story windows that the building was dark inside, so he wouldn't have to concern himself with waiting for everyone to leave.

Gliding lower, Reaper found a suitable window on the second floor and landed on the small alcove outside of it. Spotting a clear space on the inside, he teleported in and crouched low to the green carpeted floor beside a bookshelf. He could see through the bars of the railing near him that the library was very spacious inside, unsurprisingly filled with a massive amount of bookshelves and computer desks, with an ornate vaulted ceiling high above.

Being one of few people willing to gather as much knowledge as possible, Reaper would've liked to go through the plethora of books to research human culture and military information, but he had a mission to do. Taking one final look at the ground floor, he warped in front of a desk below that had numerous flat-screen computers on it. They were powered off, but he wasn't unfamiliar with electrical technology. Tracing the cord to it's power stick, he pressed the switch and a low hum emanated from the computers."Simple,"he whispered to himself, activating a monitor and booting it's system up.

Once that was done, Reaper brought up the catalog application and typed the word Azarath into the search bar. When nothing popped up, he realized that this probably wouldn't be as easy as he thought. He deleted his previous search and typed Azarathian next, still receiving no results. "Hmm. Let us try this,"he muttered, erasing the words again and replacing them with Anima Comedenti. To his surprise, the screen remained blank.

"What?"he said, a bit louder than he would've liked, unable to understand how the humans had no knowledge of not just one, but two other races. Glancing around to make sure no one heard him, he glared at the screen, all of his ideas exhausted. Racking his brain for just one more possible lookup, he managed to piece something together.

Remembering that even before the current demon incursion into the Realm, Trigon had been using Hell's armies to invade a number of times since Reaper was a child. They never got too far, but he always heard from his father that they'd been trying to reach the city in the sky and that the Comedenti were just in the way. When he heard of Trigon's defeat, rumors had begun to surface that it had happened in the human world. Seeing this as a promising lead, Reaper typed the former demon lord's name in.

This time, words and articles filled the screen, mainly under the newspaper category. "Success,"he smirked, proud of his own reasoning on this matter. All he needed to do now was find the area of the library that the newspaper archives were in, so he clicked on the first result to locate it. He hoped that they'd be nearby, but to his dismay, the words ' **Article Located In Archives – See Administrator** 'was all that popped up.

"Of course,"Reaper sighed, shaking his head in frustration. Stepping away from the table, he looked around to see if he could find the archives room. Luckily, the door was in plain sight, with a nice, big sign overhead. He made his way towards it, but he knew it would be locked and that brute force would be necessary. Once he got to it, he grabbed the handle, leaned against the door, and reared back to slam his whole body against it. He had to try multiple times, but eventually, it gave away and flew open with a loud crack as the wood around the doorknob splintered and broke.

The room he'd broken into was a rather small space, with filing cabinets lining the walls on either side of the door and a large computer console across from it. The huge monitor above the console was already on, and all Reaper had to do was type Trigon into the search bar. The screen brought up the results from earlier, except now when he clicked on the same one, it opened the actual article. "At last."

As Reaper began to read the newspaper, he saw that Trigon had indeed invaded this world, beginning in the very city he was in now and leaving nothing but destruction in his wake. It never mentioned his name, and it was obvious that the humans had no idea who it really was. It also documented something to do with an apocalypse and every human on Earth being turned to stone, yet somehow still being aware of their surroundings.

Then it started to get into the relevant information that he was looking for. It spoke of how Trigon was defeated, with a band of superheroes referred to only as the "Teen Titans" somehow banishing him from the dimension. Reaching the end of the article, Reaper still didn't know who the Azarathian woman was, but if he could find the so-called Teen Titans, then he'd at least be one step closer to finding out.

As he began to back out of the article, Reaper heard a slight noise behind him, prompting him to bring up his armor, warp a pistol into his hand and spin around, pointing the weapon at a large figure in the doorway. "Who-"he started to say, but before he had a chance to finish, he was blown backwards into the console as a beam of energy struck him in the abdomen.

"You know, you really shouldn't play with guns,"a voice said as Reaper looked over at his assailant from the floor.

The man that stood there was dark-skinned, bald, and at least seven feet tall, but that wasn't what Reaper first noticed. Instead, it was the fact that over half of the behemoth's body was comprised of a large assortment of blue and white metal parts laced with what looked to be circuitry, with a gray chunk covering his torso. One side of his head was entirely covered in the robotic-looking material as well, with a large, glowing red eye. For an arm he had an electronic cannon that Reaper could only assume was the one that had blasted him, but as he laid there, it seemed to disappear before his eyes, transforming into an actual arm.

As Reaper began to rise to his feet, he noticed another, significantly shorter person beside the half-man, half-machine. This one was completely human from what Reaper could see, with black boots, green, skin-tight pants, a red shirt with green sleeves and a small R embroidered on it, a short black and yellow cape hanging from the back of his neck, and a black and white mask over his eyes along with his black spiky hair. Green gloves covered most of his arms, but enough skin still showed for Reaper to know that he was white, unlike his companion, revealing to Reaper that humans had come to accept others of differing color.

Once Reaper was standing again, he glared at the two. If they'd met with speech instead of firepower, then he wouldn't have attacked them, but since that wasn't the case, he felt obligated to return the favor. Teleporting behind the duo, he raised his pistol again and fired a burst of rounds into the big one's back. The bullets harmlessly bounced off the metal, though, and Reaper barely managed to fly into the air before the giant rotated and fired another beam at him. Flipping backwards and landing a few feet away, Reaper replaced his pistol with a twelve-gauge, pump-action shotgun.

He brought it up, but before he got a shot off, a smokescreen billowed up in front of him and he heard the same voice from earlier say,"Cyborg, go!" He quickly looked side-to-side as he began to back up out of the smoke, but as he did, a powerful kick came from behind, sending him stumbling forward just as another beam smashed into his side and launched him sideways into a bookshelf. The shelf fell over under the weight of Reaper's body ramming against it, and by the time the smoke had cleared, he was left crumpled atop a mountain of books and wood.

As he climbed to his feet, a flurry of strikes from his assailant's staff hit him from seemingly all sides, bouncing off his armor before one last blow collided with his chest, sending him flying backwards. Bouncing off the wall, he then landed flat on his face, the air being channeled straight out of his lungs as he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.

In an effort to recover, he slowly pushed himself off of his stomach by his hands and feet, bolstering enough energy to spawn himself onto the upper floor where he'd first come in. He'd hoped that moving himself over there would buy him time, but he couldn't stop himself from releasing a loud, painful cough. "Ow,"he groaned, finally getting back up as he glanced around for his attackers. Unfortunately for him, they'd already managed to get to his position, and he was left defenseless as he stood before them, his hand on his belly and a scowl plastered across his face.

The one called Cyborg had his cannon trained on Reaper again, but he hadn't fired yet, seemingly waiting for his partner to speak. "Who are you? Why are you here?"the other one asked, a lengthy bo staff in his hand as he stood in a defensive position.

"What does it matter? You have me cornered. Take me in,"Reaper uttered in mock defeat.

"I gotcha covered, Robin. Go ahead,"Cyborg said as his friend nodded and shortened his staff, slowly moving towards Reaper. Once their guard was down and Robin was close enough to block Cyborg's shot, Reaper instantly dove towards the window, prompting a beam to be fired at him. Thankfully, it missed, and a portal opened right in front of him, giving immediate access to the outside. Another laser was fired as he flew through the opening, shattering the window that Reaper flew past and narrowly missing him by inches. Taking full advantage of the chance he had, he glided through the air and flapped his wings as much as he could, intermittently opening more portals to lose the two, his figurative tail between his legs.

* * *

 **AN: And there's the chapter. I hope that the length of this one was more satisfying than the last two, and that I've made it more interesting for readers. As for the content, especially the lore of the show included in this chapter, I made sure to research it the best I could, and I'm pretty sure that I got it all down correctly. As for the introduction of Robin and Cyborg, I hope that I characterized them correctly and as much as possible. But if anyone thinks I got something wrong, feel free to let me know and I'll try to correct it in the future, as the next chapter will include much more of an appearance from the Titans. And again, thanks to my reviewers for your input. It really boosts my morale regarding this story, and hopefully I'll get more as it progresses, even if some consist of less praise and more criticism. And now, since that's all out of the way, I'll see you all again next week.**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello, everybody. First off, I'd like to thank everyone who's read this story for getting it to 100 views. It's a small achievement, but to me, it's a milestone, and with luck, this is just the beginning. Unfortunately, though, the last chapter didn't bring any additional reviews, favorites, or followers, but the story is still in it's early stages, so I suppose it's to be expected, and there are still plenty of chapters to go, so I'm not too concerned about that yet. As for this chapter, I'm hoping that by lengthening it significantly and finally bringing the Titans in, I'll be able to bring in more of those three aspects. If I did this correctly, that is. My last version of this fell apart when I introduced them to their fullest, mainly because I don't think I characterized them right. So, hopefully, I've improved in that regard and this won't backfire. But anyways, I guess I should let you all get to reading and I'll just wait and see what happens. As always, reviews are welcome, whether they're strictly praise or criticism, and I hope that my readers enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3**

"Who in the world was that guy?"was the first sentence that left Cyborg's mouth after the library's winged intruder had escaped, leaving him and Robin momentarily stunned that whoever it was managed to evade them.

"No idea. He didn't look like any of the villains we've fought before,"Robin replied as he stepped up to the window, seeing if he could spot their fleeing target.

Cyborg activated one of the many scanners built into his hardware, standing beside Robin as it analyzed the air outside the window. "And I can't get a read on whatever he was using to power those portals. Even Raven's portals leave energy signatures. We won't be able to easily track him."

"Then we'll look around. Maybe we can at least find something to tell us what he was doing,"Robin said.

They headed back down the stairs and towards the archives room, where the computer had been left active from when they had surprised the intruder. Cyborg made his way over to it, typing a few console commands in to bring up the recent activity. After finding the ID number for the article that the trespasser had been reading, he typed it into the search bar and the newspaper appeared on screen.

"Only one search on here,"Cyborg said, his eyes skimming over the page for important details. "Looks like he was doing some research on us...specifically, on our fight with Trigon."

"Raven's father?"

"Yeah, that Trigon. If this is what that guy was looking for, then whatever he wants can't be anything good."

"That's what I'm thinking. He could be trying to get revenge on the ones who took Trigon down, or worse."

"Then maybe we should be trying track him down. He could be dangerous,"Cyborg suggested, closing the page before turning to face Robin.

"You're right, but we need to tell the others first. We'll head back to the tower when we get done here, and we can start searching tomorrow, when everyone's well-rested."

"You sure? What if he tries breaking into somewhere else?"Cyborg asked.

"I don't think he will. He seemed injured from our fight. It wouldn't make sense for him to do something else that would get our attention,"Robin answered. "Let's look around some more and then we'll go home."

"Alright. I'll search the main room,"Cyborg replied, leaving Robin in the archives room to see if they'd missed something during the fight. He tapped a few buttons on his arm and switched his robotic eye over to night vision as he looked around, quickly spotting one active computer monitor among a group of dark ones. He reverted his vision back to normal and made his way over to it, able to see that the intruder hadn't bothered to cover his tracks by closing the tab.

He could tell from the open page that this was how whoever they'd fought had been directed to the archives by searching the name of Raven's father, which showed him that the guy was smart enough to use reason, unlike most villains they'd fought. This tidbit of information wasn't useful at the moment, though, but he knew of something that could be. He clicked on the search bar at the top of the screen and the lookup history dropped down; what he saw caused his eyes to widen slightly. "Yo, Robin, get over here!"

The slightly younger Titan quickly appeared at Cyborg's side. "What is it? Did you find something?"

"Think so. Take a look at this. Isn't Raven from there?"Cyborg asked, pointing to the term 'Azarath' on the monitor.

"Yeah, she is,"Robin answered. "It looks like the guy we fought is interested in more than just Trigon."

"You don't think he's going after her right now, do you?"Cyborg asked.

"I doubt it,"Robin answered with a slight shake of his head. "Like I said, it looked like we injured him before he escaped. Even if he is heading there, Beast Boy and Starfire are with Raven. Don't worry; if he couldn't take us, then he won't stand a chance against them."

"I hope you're right,"Cyborg said. Robin may have have been the leader of the Titans, but Cyborg was the big brother of the group, and he couldn't help but think that the guy they'd encountered would be trouble for them. "Anyways, that's not all I found,"he added, hovering the pointer over the result two choices down. "There's also this."

Robin looked closely at the term. "An-ima Com-edent-i,"he enunciated, trying to get around the strange words.

"Ever heard of it?"Cyborg asked.

"No. Try clicking on it,"Robin suggested.

Cyborg did just that, but nothing came up. "Looks like no one else has either. Whoever this dude is, he knows about something we don't."

"Agreed, but we need to find him and get him off the streets before we worry about that. If we're lucky, we can get him to tell us what those words mean when we catch him,"Robin said.

"Sounds like a plan,"Cyborg replied, exiting out of the search application and shutting the monitor down. "Don't think he messed with anything else in here. He knew what to look for when he came here."

Robin nodded. "Then let's go. We should probably pick up groceries and a pizza before heading home."

"Or a few of them. Haven't had much to eat since getting back from Tokyo,"Cyborg added.

"Good idea. Everyone needs to be well-fed before we track this guy down,"Robin replied.

* * *

About an hour after the senior Titans had left, Raven was quickly starting to get annoyed, which wasn't easy. Not long after they'd left, she'd begun meditating, but Beast Boy had switched on one of his louder video games, which was particularly unbearable, since she was in front of the windows, and Starfire had commenced pacing impatiently back and forth behind her, going on and on about how worried she was for Robin and Cyborg. As if that wasn't enough, Raven was already irritable from a lack of sleep caused by recent nightmares, and it was all causing her frustration to grow swiftly.

"We should not have let them go alone. What if it is Plasmus, and he has eaten our friends?"Starfire suddenly blurted out to no one in particular, cutting into Raven's thoughts.

Hoping to get Starfire to quiet down, Raven answered,"Plasmus is in a maximum security prison on the other side of the city. We'd hear about a break-out before hearing about a break-in."

"Then perhaps it is Mumbo, and he has turned them into helpless animals again?"Starfire suggested, her incessant striding continuing to grate on Raven's nerves.

"He's in the same prison as Plasmus, Starfire,"Raven replied.

"But-"Starfire began, but just as her sentence started, a loud ruckus echoed around the room, emanating from the kitchen area where Beast Boy had apparently moved to scavenge for food. This was the final straw for Raven, but as she sighed, opened her eyes, and prepared to unleash a snarky comment on the other two inhabitants of the room, the oldest Titans stepped in, with Robin hefting multiple plastic bags loaded with food and Cyborg carrying three full pizza boxes.

"Finally,"Raven muttered quietly, returning to her meditation as Starfire and Beast Boy both rushed towards the others.

"Welcome home, friends!"Starfire exclaimed loudly and happily, squeezing Robin into a tight hug as if she hadn't seen him for weeks and making him drop the bags while he struggled for air.

"I missed you too,"Robin managed to get out, which did nothing good for his situation, only making her compress him tighter. "Can't breathe, Star,"he added, which finally made her release him, but not before planting a kiss firmly on his lips. Thankfully for Robin, no one in the room seemed to notice.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy had sprinted to Cyborg, practically snatching the pizzas from him and running them back to the kitchen counter. "Hey, man, get back here with those!"Cyborg shouted after him, in immediate pursuit of the shape-shifter. Before Beast Boy had a chance to tear into the top box, which just so happened to be the one with the veggie-lovers pizza in it, Cyborg managed to get his hand on it and lift it out of the shorter Titan's reach.

"Come on, dude, I'm starving!"Beast Boy yelled in his trademark high-pitched voice, attempting to reach for the box. Unfortunately for him, Cyborg had a significant height advantage, and he'd placed his robotic hand against Beast Boy's forehead to keep him from gaining any ground.

"Not gonna happen. Help Star and Robin put the food away first, then you can eat,"Cyborg ordered, removing his hand from Beast Boy's path. That duty usually fell to him, since he was the only one who actually cared enough about food to sort it out, but he knew that if Beast Boy was allowed access to the pizza before the rest of them were, then he'd vacuum as much of it up as he could, especially since he was hungry.

"Fine. But I want first pick,"Beast Boy said, although he was obviously unhappy.

"Deal,"Cyborg replied, setting the box back down as Beast Boy went to get the bags from Robin. Just then, a red dot began flashing in the corner of his vision, letting him know that he'd received a video message. On the way home, he'd contacted the police and asked them to gather security footage from the library, so the notification wasn't unexpected. Bringing up his arm, he produced a small screen from it and began playing the video.

Since the intruder had come early in the night, he was near the beginning of the video, but Cyborg wasn't able to make out too much of him. His clothes were all pitch black, allowing him to blend seamlessly with the dark interior of the building, and he also seemed to be moving stealthily, keeping low and sticking to the shadows. The only part of him that Cyborg could see was the half of his face that wasn't obscured by his hood, which didn't reveal much other than the fact that he looked human, excluding the wings on his back. All in all, the footage showed that whoever it was had the brains to get what he wanted and the abilities to backup his actions, which was a dangerous combination.

The only thing remaining on the video was his and Robin's fight with the villain, so Cyborg stored it away in his storage banks for future viewing, specifically for when Robin decided to brief the others. Looking up from his arm, he saw that they had already finished storing everything away, so he picked up the pizza boxes and made his way towards the dining area. "Alright, y'all, let's eat!"

Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy practically swarmed the tables, eager to get something into their stomachs after the long wait. Raven was less eager, however, only taking a seat after everyone else had. She was hungry, but she hadn't been feeling well since she'd woken up that morning, and a strange sense of dread had settled in the pit of her stomach. The last time she'd felt this way was when her prophecy had started, but she knew that there was no need to worry about that again. Whatever was causing this continued to elude her, and she was finding it hard to suppress her worry enough to eat, which didn't go unnoticed by her friends.

"Raven, aren't you hungry?"Robin asked, already halfway through his first slice of pizza.

"No,"Raven replied flatly, keeping her emotions hidden like usual.

"You sure? The rest of us are starving,"Cyborg said, looking at her from down the table.

"You know I don't like pizza,"Raven answered.

"Alright, suit yourself,"Cyborg replied with a shrug before taking a massive bite out of his second piece.

"We got more of that stuff you like from the store, if you'd rather have that,"Robin told her.

"Thanks,"Raven said quietly, getting up from her seat to go make herself a cup of her customary herbal tea, hoping that it'd help calm her mind.

"I believe something is wrong with Raven,"Starfire said to no one in particular, waiting until the empath was out of earshot.

"She is acting a little strange,"Robin agreed "But she probably just wants to be left alone for awhile."

"Maybe you are right, but I think that I should speak to her,"Starfire replied, floating upwards and towards the kitchen, landing behind Raven as she made her tea. "Raven, would you like to talk?"she asked, knowing that they shared a special bond, being the only female members of the team.

"About what?"Raven asked, keeping up the facade that nothing was wrong.

"You do not seem to be behaving much like yourself. I believe that you are unhappy and could benefit from verbalizing your feelings,"Starfire said.

"I don't ever look happy. I'm fine, Starfire,"Raven assured, although she knew that the Tamaranean could easily see through her disguise, possessing the empathy to easily rival her own.

"I have been friends with you for an extended amount of time, Raven, and I know when you are not telling the truth,"Starfire replied, gently shaking her head.

Raven sighed. "If I tell you what's wrong, will you leave me alone about it?"she asked.

"Yes, I will,"Starfire answered.

Raven took a moderated sip from her freshly made tea, the familiar taste easing her mind slightly. "I've been having nightmares ever since we got back from Tokyo. I haven't been able to suppress them like usual, and I didn't get any sleep last night,"she confessed, keeping her back to Starfire and hoping that she wouldn't read too much into the problem.

"What took place in these nightmares? Perhaps I can aid you in determining their meaning,"Starfire suggested.

"They don't mean anything, Starfire,"Raven said, although that was more of a comforting thought spoken out loud. "Like I said, I'm fine."

Starfire was about to press the matter further, but then Beast Boy walked past her, letting out an extended burp. "Best. Pizza. Ever,"he said, opening up the refrigerator to place the leftovers inside. She wasn't sure Raven wanted the others to know about her nightmares, so she decided to halt their conversation and talk more with her at a later time.

"Okay, team, I know you're all tired, but we need to talk about what happened at the library before we turn in for the night,"Robin said, standing beside Cyborg in the middle of the room. The others swiftly, but tiredly gathered in front of the two, eager to get this over with.

"But it was only a simple break-in, yes?"Starfire asked.

"Yeah, that's usually all it is. You two show up and kick the bad guy's butt, end of story,"Beast said.

"That's not exactly what happened this time,"Robin replied. "Go ahead, Cy." Cyborg brought up his arm, tapping a few buttons before a holographic projection emitted upwards from it, showing the video from earlier as if they were watching it on the screen.

"Okay, so when we got to the library, we found this dude going through the city's archives,"Cyborg began, tapping another button to play the footage, showing the entrance of the intruder before zooming in on him as he looked over the railing.

"He doesn't look like anyone else we've fought,"Raven quickly noticed.

"He wasn't,"Robin said. "Whoever he was, he was extremely agile and resilient, and smarter than most of the villains we've fought. Aside from that, he uses guns with conventional ammunition, and he utilized portals multiple times during our fight, including for his escape."

"Wait, so he got away?"Beast Boy asked.

"And you did not pursue him?"Starfire added.

"We couldn't. By the time we got to the window, we couldn't see where he went,"Robin told them, his words synchronizing with the same moment as Cyborg fast-forwarded through the video.

"You couldn't follow his portals?"Raven asked.

"Tried that. My sensors didn't pick up any leftover energy,"Cyborg explained.

"But what's more serious than how dangerous he could be is what he was looking for in that library,"Robin added, waiting for Cyborg to bring up the newspaper article on screen before continuing.

"This was what was left on the archive computer,"he said, looking up at the traffic camera picture of a certain demon lord on the front page. Starfire gasped when she saw who it was, and Beast Boy had a look of shock on his face, which was rare for him.

"No...not him,"Raven said, her nightmares suddenly making more sense. Slight amounts of concern had edged into her voice as she stared at the image of Trigon, clearly visible while he used the remains of Titans Tower as a throne.

"Afraid so,"Cyborg said, frowning a little at everyone's reaction, especially Raven's. He knew that she definitely wasn't easily shaken.

"We don't know what he's planning, but we know that whatever it is probably can't be good, especially if it has anything to do with Trigon,"Robin said, although he was stating the obvious. Everyone knew that the danger level of this particular villain was just raised significantly.

"Should we not go after him?"Starfire asked.

"Yeah, what if he's trying to bring Trigon back?"Beast Boy asked. "Um, can he bring Trigon back?"he added, looking over at Raven.

"It's possible,"Raven replied frankly, worrisome thoughts running through her head. "We need to track him down now. Before he has a chance to do something else."

"I'm with her,"Cyborg stated, shutting off the hologram and lowering his arm. "We've wasted enough time already."

"I agree,"Starfire said.

"Me too,"Beast Boy added.

"Okay. We'll find him faster if we split up, so you three fly ahead and check out the city,"Robin ordered. "Cyborg, take the T-Car and go downtown, near the library. I'll investigate the residential district. Whoever finds him first, stay back and contact the rest of us. He's injured, but he could still be dangerous, so don't attack until we're all there,"he finished, looking at everyone to make sure they understood. "Let's go.

* * *

After the engagement at the library, Reaper had tried his best to disappear into the night, occasionally pausing to ensure that neither of the people he'd fought were following him. He'd flown to random locations around the city to cover his tracks, making sure to stay away from the the apartment he temporarily called home. After approximately an hour of this, he finally stopped at the waterfront near a large bridge that expanded over the bay and connected two sections of Jump City.

He landed on a four-story-tall building that looked to be a packaging plant, trying to catch his breath as the long flight had taken a lot out of him, especially considering the fight that had preceded it. He had to admit that he underestimated the two humans he'd been attacked by. If anyone was to catch him there, he expected it to be a security guard, not two heavily armed and obviously seasoned fighters. He knew that he'd made a mistake, and also that he wouldn't allow it to happen again, but for now, he put those thoughts aside as he began to process the information that he'd gathered at the city's archives.

Reaper realized now that he had to begin searching for the heroes he'd read about in the article that detailed Trigon's defeat. He knew that the Teen Titans resided somewhere in the city, as the article had referred to them as 'our beloved heroes', but he didn't have any clue where they could be. They were most likely extremely powerful, since they had managed to destroy a demon lord, and he deduced that humans were probably a lot like his own race in that they would most likely put people in positions of power up in imposing and impressive places.

As he mulled it over, a possibility came to mind. He looked out over the bay and at the island in the middle of it. More specifically, he looked at the massive structure that stood upon it, immediately noticing its shape, which was that of a 'T'. "Titans,"he whispered, mentally kicking himself for not realizing it sooner. "That's where I need to go."

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement to his right, high up in the air. Summoning a pair of night-vision binoculars, he glared up at what looked to be a large, but ordinary bird. However, as he began to warp away the binoculars, he witnessed the bird change...into a different kind of bird. "How..,"he began, but then he noticed that the bird had locked its eyes on him and had started to dive.

Taking it as a bad sign, he jumped over the edge of the building, using his wings to slow his fall before coming to a halt on the sidewalk. He took one more glance at the strange bird before peeking through a foggy window of the packing plant and opening a portal, giving him instant access to the dark building. Finally, he pressed himself against the wall, listening through the window for anything. Moments later, the shadow of a bird slowly flew down right outside, but to his surprise it shifted into the shadow of a short human.

"Robin, I think I found him,"said a muffled, but obviously young, male voice as the shadow appeared to pull a small device from his pocket. "He went into a building next to me."

"Okay, Beast Boy. Don't chase him. We'll all be there soon,"came another voice, this one the same as the one from the library.

"Um, can you guys hurry? This place is creepy,"the figure outside replied.

"Just stay out of sight,"the other voice said before the shadow put away the device.

"Right. Easy for you to say,"he said to himself as he moved away from the window.

Reaper had now gathered all of the information he needed to hear. This 'Beast Boy' was in league with whoever had attacked him at the library, and there were more people in that group than the person outside and the two he'd encountered earlier. Now they were coming to find him, and it sounded like he didn't have much time before they arrived. He was tired, so a quick escape wouldn't be possible, and another long-distance portal would just drain him even more, so his only option was to stay and try to avoid conflict.

He turned away from the window, but as he did, a bright light shined on him, and a loud, fear-filled shout echoed through the empty building. Taking that as his cue to bolt, Reaper dashed down the hall beside him, towards a flight of stairs. The security guard behind him had dropped his flashlight and ran the opposite way, so he wasn't who Reaper was concerned about. Before he could make it to the stairs, a door to the outside burst open ahead of him and the shape-shifter ran through, almost immediately spotting Reaper.

However, Reaper didn't stop sprinting towards Beast Boy, taking him off guard as he opened a portal and appeared on the other side of him before making his way up the stairs. Once he got to the third floor, he continued through the hallways until he found a group of storerooms. He came to a halt and silently opened one of the doors, slipping into the shadows and quickly shutting it behind him. Within seconds, he was hidden behind a cluster of spare machinery in the corner, crouching low as he pressed himself against the wall to try and remain hidden.

A few minutes later, he could hear bestial sniffing outside the door, as if from a dog. The door opened moments later, and sure enough, a bloodhound stepped across the threshold, it's nose working hard at Reaper's scent. It wasn't long before the sniffing neared his hiding place, and he began considering jumping out to try and incapacitate the changeling while he was in a weaker form. However, before he could carry out the attack, a voice boomed out from the floor below. "Yo, Beast Boy! Where you at, man?!"

The animorph quickly turned and bolted out of the room, heading back to the stairs as quickly as he could. After waiting a few moments, Reaper left his hiding spot, sneaking back out into the hallway while the people pursuing him were still clueless to his exact position, or so he thought. As he started to dash down the hall, away from the stairs, a portal unlike his own opened in the floor ahead, and a decidedly female form raised upwards from it, hooded and cloaked in blue.

As Reaper stopped dead in his tracks, the portal closed and the woman stabilized herself a couple of inches off the floor. "Don't move,"she said threateningly, leveling her hand at him.

Raising one hand up above his head, Reaper began to feign surrender just like he did back at the library. "I do not wish to fight,"he said, his other hand moving behind his back as he warped a smoke grenade into it, pulling the pin with his thumb. He then dropped the grenade as smoke blasted from it, billowing around him and blocking the sorceress's line of sight.

Without hesitation, he ran back to the stairs and upwards, his other pursuers only a floor below and coming up behind him. He sprinted to the fourth floor and down the hall to the supervisor's room before slamming the door and pushing a chair in front of it for good measure. Once that was done, he slid across the office desk that was in the center of the room, ducking down to squeeze into the hole in the desk where the chair used to be.

Only seconds after he got under it, he heard heavy footsteps outside before the weak wooden door was ripped from its hinges. He managed to get his breath under control quickly, leading to dead quiet where he waited and hoped that they wouldn't notice where he was. After a few tense moments, the voice of Robin broke the silence,"He probably went to the roof. Quick, we can't let him get away again!"

Reaper heard more footsteps, but this time, they were moving away. He waited a minute before crawling out from the cramped and extremely uncomfortable space, standing up as he glared into the hallway. Seeing that he'd lost them, he moved out of the room and quietly made his way towards the stairs again. But as he got to the middle of the corridor, the same woman from before stepped out of the stairwell, her hand raised again.

Reaper turned his head to look over his shoulder at the room he'd left as he contemplated running yet again, but before he could, four other people appeared out of the darkness behind him, three of which he recognized. They were all in some form of aggressive stance and trapping him in their own trick, finally leaving him with only one option: give up. "Hold your fire. I surrender. No more lies,"he assured, slowly getting to his knees as his hands went to his head.

"Raven, bind him!"Robin ordered just as Reaper's knees hit the floor. The hands of the figure in front of Reaper began to glow with black energy before a pipe next to him was coated in the same energy and torn free from the wall. Without warning, it was twisted around his hands and they were forcefully yanked down behind his back, causing him to let out a pained grunt. "That was not necessary,"he said.

"You're not getting away like last time. Now who are you? Talk!"Robin barked, his bo staff clenched firmly in his hands as he didn't know what this guy was fully capable of.

"My name is Reaper,"Reaper answered, wriggling his hands to try and free himself, but instead, the makeshift cuffs only tightened. "And I am truthfully not your enemy."

"Then why did you run?"Robin asked with the same forceful tone.

"I could not afford to be captured. But now it is my only choice,"Reaper answered. "Now please, calm yourself. I have no intention of attacking."

"You could've fooled me. You obviously didn't have that opinion when you broke into the library and pulled a gun on us,"Robin said accusingly.

"I was searching for something, human. You and your friend startled me, so I did what my instincts dictated,"Reaper stated, rising to his feet in order to turn around and speak directly with Robin, seeing that him and Cyborg still had their weapons at the ready. Once he was facing away, Raven teleported over to join her friends, although that didn't affect the pipe wrapped around his hands.

"What, to kill us?"Robin asked.

"No. Simply to fight. If I remember correctly, he fired the first shot. I only reacted because you could have been someone intent on killing me,"Reaper answered, nodding towards Cyborg.

"That still doesn't explain why you broke into the library in the first place,"Robin said. "We found what you looked up in the archives, and we know that you have an interest in Trigon. What we don't know is why. Are you trying to bring him back?"

"What? Of course not. That monster was the original leader of my sworn enemies, and he deserved his fate, whatever it may have been. I would not ever attempt to resurrect him,"Reaper replied.

"What about the other term you looked up? Anima Comedenti?"Robin questioned.

"That is my race. I was attempting to discern if humans knew of us,"Reaper said.

"Okay, hold on. You expect us to believe that you broke into the library, then into the archives, and searched specifically for Trigon just to read about him? We're teenagers, but we're not stupid,"Cyborg spoke up, still keeping his beam cannon trained directly on Reaper.

"Wait, you are teenagers?"Reaper asked, deflecting the question with one of his own. "You would not happen to be the Teen Titans, would you?"

"Yeah, we are,"Robin answered, not worrying too much about giving away their identities since Reaper stood no chance against their combined force if doing so backfired. "Why?"

At that, Reaper sighed, the revelation that he'd been running from the very people he was looking for making him decide to just come out with all of the information they'd need. "This has all been a big misunderstanding. You see, I was sent here to find someone. While going through the archives, I realized that there was a relevant connection between her and Trigon, and so I began searching for information regarding him and those who defeated him. I am not here to fight you, but rather to request your assistance in finding the woman I seek."

The Titans all looked at each other as they contemplated this. The fact that the villain they'd been hunting was turning out to be not as villainous as they thought was unfamiliar to them. Usually, the criminal never surrendered and never revealed as much as this supposed one did. But they still didn't know if they could trust him.

Looking back at Reaper, Robin asked in a calmer voice,"But who are you looking for? And why?"

"An Azarathian woman. I need her assistance in fighting the ones who are pursuing me, but I do not know where she could be or even what she could look like. I have never seen an Azarathian in my short life,"Reaper told them.

It didn't take being a genius for Robin to realize that the one Reaper was searching for was standing right there beside him. However, he believed it'd be best if he didn't reveal that to Reaper, seeing as how they weren't sure of his intentions yet. "And who's after you? They must be powerful if you need the help of someone like that,"he said.

"They are the demonic armies of Hell, the Vehements,"Reaper answered.

"You're being chased by demons?"Raven asked, having remained silent but attentive to the conversation up to that point. She knew fully well that the woman Reaper was searching for was definitely her, but she had the same mindset about this as Robin did, partly due to the mental link they still shared since Robin's illusions of Slade.

"Yes. They have been attacking my home, and I have been sent here, to Earth, to seek the Azarathian out. I was not told why, so I may only assume that she can possibly help me destroy them,"Reaper said.

"You are not from Earth?"Starfire asked from beside Robin, allowing Reaper to hear her for the first time.

"No. I came here only yesterday, from an alternate dimension my race calls the Realm. Unfortunately, it could be left in ruins if I do not act quickly enough,"he replied, looking to the floor as he thought about home.

"And how do we know you're telling the truth about all this?"Robin asked.

"Honestly, you do not. But let me say that I could not make this up. Everything I have told you is true, to the best of my knowledge. I do not expect your help, but I will not stop myself from asking for it. If you will not help me, then I will only ask that you let me continue my search unhindered,"Reaper said, closing his argument on the matter.

Robin contemplated everything Reaper had said, trying to find inconsistencies in his story. Finding none, and feeling the eyes of his teammates on the back of his head, he made his decision. "I need to talk to my team about this. Raven, restrain his legs, just in case." As the words left his mouth, more pipes burst from the floor and captured Reaper's feet, holding them firmly down while the Titans formed a closed-off circle facing inward to decide his fate.

"Do the rest of you still think he's dangerous?"Robin asked, ensuring that he was speaking quietly so as not to be overheard.

"Don't know, man. He still seems shady to me, but he could be telling the truth,"Cyborg said.

"I trust that he is being truthful as well. I can tell that he misses his home, just as I have missed mine,"Starfire added.

"Well, he had a chance to attack me before you guys got here, but he didn't take it. He just ran past me,"Beast Boy replied.

"What about you, Raven? You're the one he's looking for,"Robin said.

"I don't know. I don't think he knows who I am, and I'm not sensing any evil from him. And he's not lying about about his home. I felt a short pang of sadness from him when he was talking about it,"Raven answered.

Robin nodded once she had finished saying her piece. "The way I see it, we have two choices. We can either assume he's lying about his motives and put him in jail, or we can take him back to the tower and keep our eye on him to watch for anything suspicious."

"I believe we should consider showing him kindness and bring him back with us,"Starfire stated, her compassion clouding her judgment a little, along with her desire to converse with someone not from Earth.

"Yo, you want to bring him back to the tower?"Cyborg asked in slight disbelief. "What if he gets a hold of my tech? He could take out the whole city."

"We could put him in Terra's old room,"Robin suggested.

"Maybe,"Cyborg said, giving in a little. "I did put a damper in the walls to help Terra control herself, so he wouldn't be able to use his powers in there. And I can lock the door electronically if I need to. But don't blame me if he wrecks the place."

"But that's next to my room. I'd be the first one to go if he does something while we're asleep,"Beast Boy said.

"Calm down, man. You know my security is foolproof,"Cyborg replied.

"Then it's settled. We'll bring him to the tower. But make sure no one mentions that Raven is from Azarath. He doesn't need to know that yet,"Robin told them all before facing Reaper again. "We've decided to bring you back to our headquarters. You'll have a place to sleep and food to eat, but only on one condition. You have to allow us to keep constant surveillance on you."

"Very well,"Reaper agreed after a sigh. He knew that the Titans wouldn't trust him so easily, and he should've seen this coming. "Will you release me now? These binds are beginning to chafe."

Robin gave Raven a nod and the energy around her hands disappeared, the pipes on his hands falling away as well. Reaper brought his hands back around and rubbed his wrists. "Thank you. This is much better,"he said, shaking the pipes at his feet away. "As you can see, I am trustworthy. Now, will we be returning to your home?"

"Yeah. Raven, can you get us out of here?"Robin asked, relinquishing his grip on the staff as he stored it away.

"Sure,"Raven replied and leveled her hand at the wall ahead as one of her portals opened up on it, acting as a door between the hallway they were in and the head of the tower's living room. Everyone made their way through, with Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire going first, Reaper following them, and Robin and Raven bringing up the rear.

Once the portal closed, Reaper looked around the large room they'd entered, quickly taking in all of the details before walking up to the window and staring out over the bay. "Welcome to Titans Tower,"Robin said from behind him.

"So I was right; this is your home."

"Yep. Designed it myself,"Cyborg replied proudly, activating the lights remotely.

"Very nice. Strategic, yet elegant. A rare combination,"Reaper complimented, eyeing the bridge that they'd been near only moments ago. "We are some distance from the building we were just in. Sustaining that portal did not exhaust you?"he asked Raven.

"No,"Raven replied simply.

"Strange. Had I created it, my energy would've been drained significantly. Perhaps I draw my power from a different source,"Reaper stated before turning to face the Titans. "So, where will I be staying?"he asked, reaching up and pulling his hood off, finally allowing them to view his full face, the exhaustion from previous days apparent across his features.

"We have a spare bedroom for you to stay in. But once you're in there, we're going to have to lock the door. It's nothing personal, just a temporary precaution until we know we can trust you,"Robin answered.

"I understand. It is better than a standard prison cell, by far,"Reaper replied. "Besides, I am honestly too tired to care."

"Alright, then we'll take you to it,"Robin said, leading them out of the ops room and into the corridor that connected all of the bedrooms. Reaper followed, being flanked in the back by the other four Titans, just in case. Soon enough, after silently passing two other rooms marked 'Raven' and 'Beast Boy', they arrived at a door that had the word 'Terra' engraved into it.

"Here we are,"Robin said as the door slid open, moving off to the side to allow Reaper past.

Reaper stepped through the doorway and took in the surroundings, immediately noticing the large bed in the center of the room. He could see that the room had been made with someone else's tastes in mind, but he wasn't complaining. Comfortable bedding and silence was all he needed to get some rest. "I will likely fall asleep within minutes,"he said, turning to face the five heroes.

"We hope that you will find everything to your liking, friend,"Starfire said with her trademark welcoming grin.

"You have my thanks,"Reaper replied, glad that they were being so hospitable to someone they probably thought was their enemy not too long ago.

"No problem, but you should know that we haven't decided to help you yet. Right now, we're going to be monitoring you until you give us more of a reason not to. I'll have someone come wake you up in the morning for breakfast,"Robin said. "We're trusting you enough to let you stay in our tower. I hope you don't betray that trust."

"Do not worry. I have suffered too much betrayal to willingly commit it myself,"Reaper told them. "And I am hoping that we will become allies in the days to come." Robin gave him a nod before they left him alone and the door closed again, eliciting a clicking sound as it locked from the outside. Once it was shut, he sighed and made his way over to the bed as he warped his boots off, finally allowing himself to rest while he thought about the day's events.

He'd accomplished a lot more in the past few hours than he thought he would. He'd already located the Titans, explained his mission, and peacefully gained access to their home, and therefore, their hospitality. But he still had a significant amount of tasks to perform before his journey was over. The trust of the Titans needed to be gained first, and that would take a long time in and of itself, but he didn't plan on just taking advantage of them and tossing them aside. If he was going to stay in their home, eat their food, and benefit from their generosity, then he was going to earn it, starting tomorrow.

With his mind set on his next goal, Reaper laid back on the increasingly comfortable bed, which thankfully already had pillows and a blanket. Although he prided himself on being a toughened and seasoned soldier, he still couldn't stop himself from pulling the blanket up over his body. Losing himself to the old comforts of civilian life, back before everything turned complicated and dismal, he quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.


	5. Chapter 4

**AN:** **Hello, everyone. I'm finally back again, hopefully to stay. I apologize for my long absence. Shortly after the last chapter was posted, my laptop was fried, and it was quite awhile before I managed to get a new one. Thankfully, I backed up all of my files, so once I got a new laptop, I quickly finished this chapter, and now, here I am, back with another one. Hopefully it'll make up for me being away for so long.**

 **But before I let you get to reading, I want to say that I'll be doing away with my writing quota of one chapter a week. I know it's not ideal for readers, but after my laptop broke, I realized how tightly-wound I'd become in regards to my everyday activities. Every day was spent worrying about getting enough of the next chapter done instead of taking it easy and enjoying my free time. So, I'm going to be pacing myself from now on, and I'll get the chapters posted when I finish them. Again, I know it isn't ideal, but I hope that everyone can bear with me. And now that that's out of the way, here's Chapter 4, and I'll see you all next time. And please don't forget to leave a review if you find something either likable or not. Thanks.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4**

Late the next morning, a few hours after the sunlight had peaked over the ocean and into Reaper's room, a loud knock on his door awoke him from an up-to-that-point wakeless and surprisingly peaceful sleep, especially considering all that had happened just two days prior. Pushing the blanket off of his body, he slowly sat up and stretched his arms out as there was another rap on the door. "Hey man, you still in there?"came a voice that he registered as Cyborg's.

"Of course,"Reaper answered tiredly. "What is it?"

"Breakfast is done. Door's unlocked, so I'll wait out here until you're ready,"Cyborg replied.

Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, Reaper stood up and made his way to the door with a yawn. Once he was near, the door slid open, revealing the giant of a man who stood outside.

"That was quick,"Cyborg said, not having to look too far down since Reaper was only a head shorter than him.

"Yes. A benefit of being able to summon my clothing,"Reaper said, warping his boots back on to demonstrate his point, giving him an extra half-inch in height.

"Bet that'll make the others jealous,"Cyborg joked, referencing the helpful ability.

"Hopefully not. I would not want to make them any more uncomfortable with my presence,"Reaper smirked. "Shall we?"he asked, gesturing down the hall.

"Yeah. Maybe we'll get back before Beast Boy eats everything,"Cyborg said, turning and leading Reaper back towards the living room.

Following closely, Reaper asked,"He is the short, green one, correct?"

"Heh, yeah. Just don't call him short to his face. He hates it. So does Robin,"Cyborg answered.

"Robin is the one with the mask, then? I know that he is rather short as well, although it does not affect his fighting abilities,"Reaper stated. "Aside from those two, I know that you are Cyborg, and Raven is the sorceress who wears the cloak, but I do not know who the other female is."

"That's Starfire. But how'd you know the rest of our names?"Cyborg questioned, somewhat suspicious.

"Your colleagues did not exactly spare words while you were all pursuing me, as well as during our first meeting at the library,"Reaper told him.

"Makes sense. By the way, sorry about shooting you back there,"Cyborg said.

"There is no need to apologize. I was quick to use my weapons as well. But that is in the past now,"Reaper replied as they turned the corner, walking towards the ops center where the other Titans could be heard conversing.

"The others are waiting at the table. You should probably go join them,"Cyborg suggested as they entered the room and he headed to the kitchen.

As Cyborg moved out of the way, Reaper could see that they were all indeed sitting at the dining booth he'd seen the night before, with Robin and Starfire seated close to each other, and Raven and Beast Boy on opposite sides of them. As he made his way over, Starfire was the first to notice him, a big grin lighting up her face. "Good morning, friend. Please, join us,"she said, gesturing to the seat to Raven's right.

"Thank you,"Reaper replied, sliding into the booth just as Cyborg brought all of their plates over.

"Breakfast is served,"he said, placing a dish of one familiar and one foreign-looking food in front of him. "Hope you like bacon and eggs, Reaper,"he added before giving the rest of the Titans their dishes and sitting down beside Beast Boy.

"I do like eggs, but I have not ever had this,"Reaper said, lifting a strip of bacon off of his plate and examining it.

"You've never had bacon?"Robin asked, the surprise evident on his face.

"No. It does not exist where I come from,"Reaper replied, biting off half of the crunchy piece of meat.

"For real?"Cyborg said in disbelief.

A look of recognition crossed Reaper's face as a somewhat familiar taste filled his mouth. "Perhaps not. Its texture and size reminds me of cave-creeper meat,"he stated, covering his mouth while he spoke since he was still chewing.

"Um, what's a cave-creeper?"Beast Boy asked, although he would regret it when he heard the answer.

"I believe that you would call them worms. Of course, we usually eat them while they are still alive and writhing. I surmise that this was cooked first,"Reaper said, returning the bacon to his mouth to be swiftly finished off.

"Dude, that's so wrong,"Beast Boy replied with a grossed-out look on his face before receiving a robotic elbow to his shoulder, reminding him that Reaper wasn't from Earth.

"My apologies. I forget that you humans take many of your meals differently,"Reaper said, picking up the fork and knife beside his plate to cut into the eggs. "And it has been quite a while since I have eaten with anyone other than soldiers. We did not tend to limit our speech to mannerly talk,"he added, forking a large chunk of the egg white into his mouth.

"So you were a soldier? That would explain why you seemed so well-trained at the library,"Robin asked, trying to get Reaper to reveal more about himself.

"Yes,"Reaper replied, nodding his head. "Before the demons invaded, I led an entire unit. I do not lead anymore, but I suppose I could still be considered a soldier, even if I do not currently belong to a military."

"But you look around our age. How'd you end up in the army?"Cyborg asked.

"Our race matures quickly. We are conscripted into the military at age sixteen, sometimes fifteen, and we must all serve for two years,"Reaper said, continuing to clean his plate. "I have already fulfilled my requirement, but I chose to stay,"he explained. While he wanted to speak as much truth to the Titans as he could, he didn't wish to give them overly important details, like the fact that he was royalty and required to lead Comedenti forces, to unintentionally influence their opinion of him. He didn't believe that they needed to know it, and he would reserve that information for the Azarathian.

"You have participated in war for two years?"Starfire asked. "That must have been emotionally traumatic."

"Occasionally,"Reaper told her honestly. "But I would not have been able to stand idly by while my people were constantly being attacked, so it was the only place where I felt that I belonged."

"We can relate,"Robin said. "We don't exactly fit in anywhere else."

"Yes, you are all better suited for protecting this city than joining its populace. I know that feeling all too well. No matter how much we crave outside contact, it is the price we must pay if we are to ensure the survival of those we protect...even if the cost sometimes seems too high, and the means by which we defend them too strenuous,"Reaper stated learnedly, looking down and distractedly pushing what little remained of his food around his plate.

"You say that like you have personal experience,"Raven spoke up, knowing that they needed to get as much information out of Reaper as they could.

Reaper gave a slight nod. "I do. But that is a story for another time. The present is what matters now,"he said, getting to his feet and picking up his plate in order to avoid speaking of it. "What shall I do with this?"

"Just put it in the sink,"Cyborg told him before looking over at their leader. "Speaking of which, it's your turn to load the dishwasher, Robin."

Hearing that, Robin sighed. "I feel like it's always my turn,"he said, getting up as well and taking everyone's plates before heading towards the kitchen while the rest of the Titans split off to enjoy their free time.

Seeing this as his chance to be helpful, Reaper followed. "Allow me to assist you. If I will be staying here, then I may as well bear a portion of the work."

"I'll take all the help I can get,"Robin replied. "The five of us go through dishes pretty quickly."

"This is nothing. You should have seen the amount of dishware left over from my fellow soldiers,"Reaper smirked. "Let us just say that I did not envy the one who was chosen each day to clean them."

"Really? How many were there?"Robin asked, pressing a button on the side of the counter-top to make the large, two-sided sink raise from the interior, placing the dirty dishes into it atop numerous others before Reaper did the same with his plate.

"In the unit I led, there were at least two-hundred individuals,"Reaper answered. "But they were disciplined enough to keep their spaces clean. Most of the time, anyways."

"Still, sounds like a nightmare to clean up after,"Robin commented.

"I would not know. They would never allow their commander to clean their mess. It would stain both my honor and theirs,"Reaper told him.

"That's understandable. You have to maintain some level of respect,"Robin said. "How'd you get your own unit, anyways?"

"I do not care to compliment myself, but I gained command by excelling at strategic and field combat,"Reaper replied, still following his plan to keep his full background under wraps. "Although, the fact that my family has always had a history in our military may have also played a role in that endeavor."

"You think you got preferential treatment?"

"Perhaps. While many believed I would not make an efficient commander, I soon earned their respect,"Reaper said, being truthful on that matter. "But it is a long story."

"We've got time. This could take awhile,"Robin told him as he stood between the sink and the dishwasher, beginning to load the various cups, plates, and bowls into it.

"Very well,"Reaper nodded, joining Robin in removing the dishes from the sink. "During one of the many battles my kind has had with the forces of Hell, we had driven them into a cluster of mountains, shaped like a bowl and filled with rocky terrain. It was completely impassable to wheel-based vehicles, and the demons knew it, so they had deployed a wall of fire on the elevations that were accessible by our crawler-tanks. The only option was to send in our infantry through a narrow mountain pass, which would lead to mass casualties. We could have waited for them to create a rift and escape, but that would have given them the courage to strike again another day while simultaneously exhausting our forces even more."

Robin nodded slowly as he absorbed all of the information. "So you had to somehow find a way to do it without weakening your army,"he clarified.

"Correct. After deliberating with my lieutenants for as many days as we could spare, we came up with an idea. On the day of the finalization of their rift, I and half of my soldiers slowly pushed through the pass, drawing the attention of the demons towards it,"Reaper explained. "We eventually managed to get into the large clearing past the opening in the mountains, where we spread out somewhat, separating their firing lines."

"Firing lines? The demons used guns?"Robin asked, the version of demons that him and the other Titans had to fight during Trigon's attack failing to match the ones Reaper was speaking of.

"A small portion of them do. Mostly, though, they use pyrokinetic abilities, like streams hellfire and firebombs. That is what I mean by firing lines. They use them similarly to the way we use firearms,"Reaper explained.

"So both sides were evenly matched?"

"Somewhat. But they use various other weaponry and magics, and they consist of many different types. Fortunately, in that battle, their army was primarily made up of lesser creatures, while the magic-users were busy establishing the rift,"Reaper replied. "But it was still a difficult fight, considering the circumstances. As my soldiers separated, I gave the order for them to halt the attack and go on the defensive, giving the demons the illusion of approaching victory."

"Smart. You tricked them into taking their guard down,"Robin said.

"Precisely. Following the order, I found an open, but reasonably protected spot. Before the demons could overrun us, I spoke a lengthy incantation, opening sizable portals on either side of me. Without another moment, the rest of my army marched through, consisting mostly of crawler-tanks, heavy weapon specialists, and my lieutenants. The demons had no possibility of fighting our newly united forces, and we swiftly crushed their opposition, coming away from the battlefield victorious,"Reaper finished, synchronizing with the completed loading of the dishwasher.

"Nice. I can see why everyone learned to trust you after that,"Robin stated, closing the dishwasher and activating it.

"It was indeed a welcome victory, and the recognition was pleasant for a short period, but I am not one to spend much of my time in the public eye. I tend to avoid it if I can,"Reaper replied.

"I know what you mean. I'd rather stay out of the news, because then it means that we didn't have to arrest anybody,"Robin said.

"Yes. Avoiding hostilities is better than taking part in them,"Reaper agreed. "Anyhow, now that we have finished that task, would you like me to return to my room?"

After their friendly conversation, Robin didn't have to think much on that question. "No, you can stay in here. I'll also let you explore the tower, but some rooms will still be locked. And you'll probably be staying here for a few days, so feel free to talk to the others; we can't trust you if you can't trust us,"he suggested, although he wasn't giving Reaper a free pass to do whatever he wanted. He simply needed them to trust each other, and he felt that this was a good first step.

"I will do that then. You have my thanks,"Reaper replied before Robin gave him a nod and headed towards the corridor. He found it encouraging that Robin was already letting him have so much freedom, and he was determined to use his newfound liberty to get to know everyone else.

Deciding to follow Robin's suggestion, he looked around the room, seeing that the only Titans remaining in it were Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire, and they were all on the couch, performing some kind of activity with a holographic TV. Raven had seemingly vanished, but that didn't surprise Reaper. During breakfast, she'd seemed rather withdrawn and quiet, and he had a feeling that she'd be more difficult to socialize with than the others. But right now, he felt the need to interact with the ones currently in the room.

But as he turned to join them at the couch, his foot caught on something soft on the floor, causing him to stumble and barely catch himself on the counter. Turning around to see what he'd tripped over, he saw something that made his stomach churn a bit. On the floor in front of him sat a gooey-looking, worm-like thing that was eating out of what seemed to be a specialized bowl. Just as he realized what it was, and before he could stop himself, he quickly shouted out,"By the Void, what manner of beast is that?!"and jumped backwards onto the counter-top, landing on his rear.

Starfire was beside him in seconds, looking down at the creature in recognition as hysterical laughter from Beast Boy and Cyborg immediately followed. "I think you found Silkie,"Beast Boy managed to say in between laughs.

"Silkie?"Reaper asked, slowly getting back to his feet as he realized that no one else was as alarmed as him.

"He is my little bumgorf,"Starfire giggled, lifting the little worm off of the kitchen floor and holding it against her shoulder, patting it on its back as if trying to burp it.

"Is it akin to a pet?"Reaper questioned, staring at the slimy creature in question.

"Yes, he is what humans would call a pet,"Starfire answered just before Silkie let out a monumental belch, causing his owner to giggle again. "Is he not the most adorable thing you have ever seen?"she asked rhetorically, holding him in her arms affectionately as the laughter of the other two Titans began to slowly die down as they returned to what they were doing.

"A worm is a strange beast to keep for a pet,"Reaper replied, gently prodding Silkie's stomach with his finger, eliciting a small squeak from him. "How did you come across such a creature?"

"He was created and held captive by Killer Moth, one of the many villains that we have fought. After his defeat, Beast Boy brought Silkie home and requested that I care for him,"Starfire explained, petting Silkie's belly and causing him to coo softly.

"He is a moth larvae?"

"I believe so. Do you wish to hold him?"Starfire asked, holding Silkie out towards Reaper.

"I suppose,"Reaper answered hesitantly, taking the creature so as not to offend Starfire. The first thing he noticed was the nearly immediate covering of his hands in a slime-like substance, but what with all the monsters he'd fought in battle, it wasn't the grossest thing he'd had on his hands. Toughening up, he held Silkie like Starfire had, close to his chest. Looking down at him, Reaper could see that he seemed to have a smile on his face, which was strange for any animal, but especially so for a worm. Reaching up to pet Silkie's stomach, he could see that the larvae was staring fondly at him through somewhat squinted eyes.

"For a worm, he is a pleasant animal,"Reaper stated, which was his way of saying Silkie was cute. "But most of the creatures back home were always trying to eat me, so I do not have much sense of pleasantness."

"You do not have pets where you come from?"Starfire asked.

"No. Everything small enough to be a pet is also vicious and eager to eat Comedenti flesh,"Reaper replied frankly.

"That sounds terrible,"Starfire said, a slight frown on her face.

"When you have lived where I have, you learn to contend with the terrible constantly,"Reaper told her, looking up from Silkie. "What about you? You speak similarly to me, and you used the word 'humans' earlier. You are not from here either, are you?"

"No. I am from a distant planet known as Tamaran, but it is a beautiful place, and we have many wondrous creatures there,"Starfire replied.

"Interesting. There is not much humans would consider beautiful about my home, but to me, the rough terrain and eternally dark sky are picturesque features,"Reaper said, thinking back on the things he'd taken for granted.

"The sun never shines there?"Starfire wondered, the concept of no sunlight sounding gloomy to the typically joyous Titan.

"No. We do not even have a sun like this world does. Not that I have seen anyways. The clouds never reveal the sky above,"Reaper answered. "But it is home. Or rather, it was. I do not even know if it still stands. I was forced out by the demon invasion,"he said, gazing wistfully down at Silkie for a few moments as he continued to stroke his belly.

"I am sorry that you had to part from your home,"Starfire said genuinely, forcing Reaper to refocus on her.

"It is not your fault. The demons will pay for their transgressions,"Reaper said, his hatred for the forces of Hell evident. "But enough of my grieving. What of you? Why did you leave your home?"

"I did not do so willingly. During a war between my people and the Gordanians, my sister was forced to sell me to them as a slave in order to halt the fighting. In the midst of their transporting of me past Earth, I succeeded in escaping and I came here, where I found the others and they assisted me in opposing the Gordanians,"Starfire explained, giving up so much information in an effort to comfort Reaper, even if he didn't need it.

"Your own sister betrayed you?"Reaper asked, realizing how similar to his story her own seemed.

"Yes, but in the end, it protected Tamaran,"Starfire said.

"And you harbor no ill feelings for her because of it?"Reaper asked.

"No, I forgave her. She is still my sister, even if she has wronged me,"Starfire answered resolutely.

That statement surprised Reaper. While he admired her strength and her ability to forgive a betrayal so deep, he did not understand it. He wanted to tell her about the betrayal he endured and about his brother, and how he'd never forgive him, but he feared that the Titans would see him in a different, less favorable light if he revealed it. "It must be challenging to forgive a crime so heinous,"was all he said.

"Yes, it can be difficult at times, but all I must do is remember that hate is not the answer,"Starfire replied with a smile.

While Reaper wanted to dispute that claim, he did not wish to start an argument with the one Titan that he could currently relate to. Instead he just nodded and lifted the now sleeping Silkie up. "I believe that I have coaxed him into slumber,"he said, holding the larvae out towards Starfire.

"Yes, he is likely weary from eating such a large portion of his food,"she said, taking Silkie back into her arms. "Perhaps I should return him to his bed."

"Very well,"Reaper replied, stepping out of Starfire's way.

Starfire gave him a smile before carrying Silkie towards the same corridor Robin had left through, leaving Reaper with Beast Boy and Cyborg. He'd had productive conversations with two of the Titans, but he still had three left to talk to before he could ascertain what each of their personalities and inclinations were. Once that was accomplished, he would be able to gain their trust more easily while also simultaneously allowing him to trust them more, which was what they'd need in order to work well together.

Making his way out of the kitchen, Reaper moved to stand behind the couch as he observed the other two inhabitants of the room seemingly control the movements of a couple of virtual vehicles on the TV screen in what seemed to be a race. After a few minutes of trying to determine how they were doing this, he was still clueless, and he decided to use that to start a conversation with the two of them. "What exactly is it that the both of you are doing?"he inquired, finally attaining a portion of their attention.

"Playing videogames,"Cyborg answered, keeping most of his focus squarely on the TV.

"Playing videogames? What do you mean?"Reaper asked, the phrase foreign to him. As soon as the question left his mouth, a look of shock crossed the Titan's faces as they turned to stare at Reaper.

"No way. You've never heard of videogames?"Beast Boy questioned as the word 'Paused' appeared on the screen.

"No, I do not recall that I have,"Reaper replied, not realizing how big a deal it was to these two.

"Seriously? Dude, you've been missing out,"Beast Boy said, still dumbstruck by the fact that Reaper hadn't experienced videogames. "They're only, like, the greatest thing ever invented."

"Yeah, how'd you survive without these things?"Cyborg asked rhetorically, although he wasn't as surprised as Beast Boy.

Taking it literally, Reaper responded with,"Typically by using gu-,"but he was quickly interrupted by Beast Boy coming up behind him and beginning to prod him around to the front of the half-circular couch.

"Dude, you've gotta sit down so we can show you this, because it'll probably knock you off of your feet,"the shapeshifter urged.

"Bu-,"Reaper tried to get out, but his voice was discontinued again, this time by Cyborg.

"Yeah, man, there's no way you can stay here without at least playing one round with both of us,"the robotic Titan declared.

"Then I suppose I could give it a try,"Reaper replied after Beast Boy finished directing him onto the sofa. "How does this function, exactly?"

Without hesitation, Cyborg placed a strangely-shaped device into Reaper's hands. "Okay, you use this to direct your actions to the screen. This moves the ship in the direction you push it,"he explained, pointing at what looked to be a control stick on the controller. "And these make your ship do different things, like boosting or performing maneuvers,"he finished, now indicating the various buttons on the device.

"And we compete without engaging in physical combat? I do not see how this is possible,"Reaper told them, the concept completely alien to him.

"It's virtual reality, so it's not real. You put a game in and it comes up on the screen, and then you control your character to beat the other person,"Beast Boy explained simply, putting it the only way he could.

"I believe I somewhat understand. It is similar to using a remote for a television, except with greater power,"Reaper clarified for himself.

"Basically, yeah,"Cyborg said, using his controller to push the game back to a main menu of sorts. "Okay, now you pick out the two colors for your ship. You use the stick to highlight the one you want, then press the lowest button to choose it,"he explained, eager to see what Reaper's first attempt at gaming would be like.

"Very well,"Reaper said, looking over the various hues that were available. "Black and green will suffice,"he decided, using his favorite and his eye color. After the choice, the display darkened before fading back in, showing his ship lined up beside Beast Boy's purple and green one.

"Alright, good luck,"Cyborg said, sitting back to watch the first round unfold. A countdown then began on-screen, and once it reached zero, a loud dinging sound signaled the start. As Reaper pushed forward on the control-stick, his ship jumped from the starting line and both vessels sped down the virtual racetrack. Expressions of immense concentration began to form on both players faces as the competition progressed, and it wasn't long before the finish line was in view, the race close. As the ships neared the end, Reaper pressed one of the buttons, thinking it was the boost button, but instead of jumping ahead, his ship rolled to the side and Beast Boy's flew across the line, indicating his win.

"Yes!"Beast Boy cheered with a grin, jumping to his feet as his hands went towards the ceiling.

"Aw, dang, so close!"Cyborg exclaimed as he leaned forward, showing that he'd been rooting for the newcomer to the game.

"That was extremely foolish of me,"Reaper frowned, his loss becoming apparent as he realized that he could've done without the risky button press.

"Hey, man, don't sweat it. That was your first try,"Cyborg told him.

"Yeah, no one gets it on their first try, especially against the master,"Beast Boy added, obviously proud of himself as he sat back down to take them back to the main menu.

"Yes, but had I not tried for the boosters, I would have still had a chance,"Reaper argued, the game actually kindling his competitiveness and his interest in videogames.

"You'll probably do better against Cy. He's not a good player,"Beast Boy grinned, throwing a playful insult at his friend.

"Better than you, Grass Stain,"Cyborg threw back. "Come on, let's do this,"he challenged in anticipation, picking his controller back up.

Reaper nodded. "May the optimal player win,"he said, seeing this next match as a much more fair fight now that he knew what not to do. As they chose their colors, and the countdown began, he settled back into the comfortable seating to try and relax. The word 'Go' lit up the display and then the ships were off again, swiftly gliding away from the start line.

"Oh, man, here we go,"Cyborg smirked, playing to his full potential in order to show Beast Boy that he was as good as, if not better, than him at this. As Reaper's ship pulled ahead, Cyborg made his boost, rocketing it past Reaper's and pushing it far ahead.

"Two can play that game, my friend,"Reaper stated, pressing the only other button on the controller, causing his vessel to boost as well, catapulting it back into the battle and past Cyborg's again, and this time it stayed ahead until the finish line was again in sight. This time, Reaper had another risky plan. Instead of boosting ahead to possibly give him the win, he lined his ship up just ahead of Cyborg's and yanked the stick backwards, throwing it into full reverse. Before Cyborg could react, his vessel slammed straight into Reaper's and exploded as it hit the thrusters. As the smoke on the track cleared, it showed Reaper's ship very slowly making it across the finish line, covered with burns and scratches.

Letting out a triumphant,"Glorious!", Reaper pumped his fist in victory as Cyborg stared at the screen, appalled at the fact that he'd lost by utter destruction. Then, Beast Boy randomly burst out laughing.

"Ha! You got blown up!"the changeling said, holding his stomach as he leaned back on the couch.

"Aw, man, come on, I didn't even know you could do that!"Cyborg proclaimed, putting his controller down as he stood up.

Reaper did the same, turning to face his opponent. "Thank you for wishing me luck earlier. I suppose it helped,"he grinned, extending his hand. "But it was a difficult battle."

Cyborg took his hand and shook it. "Yeah, it was a good game. But we're going to do this again sometime,"he declared with a smirk.

"I look forward to it,"Reaper agreed, dropping his arm before facing Beast Boy. "And the same to you. Perhaps next time will be different."

"We'll see about that,"Beast Boy grinned.

"Yes, we will,"Reaper replied, giving him a nod as he headed away from the couch, having to push thoughts of the exciting win out of the forefront of his mind as he decided what to do next. The only Titan he had left to speak with was Raven, and she still hadn't made an appearance. But looking for her in an unfamiliar structure of this magnitude would surely end in him getting hopelessly lost, so his only option was to make his way around the building without focusing his mind on anything else but exploring. His decision made, he walked out of the room to navigate throughout the sizable tower.

* * *

After spending a few hours walking through the halls, familiarizing himself with the layout, and looking through every unlocked room in the tower aside from the Titans' sleeping quarters, Reaper had finally neared the end of his exploration. He'd seen the basement, the garage, the lobby, the infirmary, the gym, and had even spent some time in Cyborg's game room, and now his last act was to reach the top, where he hoped to get some fresh air after being inside for so long. Riding the elevator up, he stepped out onto the roof, immediately noticing how tall the building really was as he got a good view of his surroundings.

As he looked around, he could see the ocean far off in the distance on one side, the bridge on the other, and in between both of those, the skyline of Jump City. The sun had gotten lower in the sky, signifying that sundown wasn't too far off. Beginning to walk towards the edge, past what looked to be a couple of sporting courts, he noticed a lone figure near the end of the roof, hovering in a sitting position a couple of feet off of the ground. Seeing the blue cloak, he immediately realized that it was none other than Raven, and he made his way towards her, stepping up to the ledge nearby to admire the view of the ocean.

"What are you doing up here?"Raven asked, eyeing him somewhat suspiciously from the darkness beneath her hood, closing a book that she had on her lap.

"Your leader has given me permission to explore the tower. I have spent the last three hours visiting every room accessible to me, and I decided to come up to the roof for the fresh air,"Reaper answered.

"I guess this is the best place for it,"Raven said as she closed her eyes again, less suspicious now as she sensed that Reaper had no obvious hostile intent.

"Yes. It is also peaceful here. Your comrades are interesting and all, but they are also very social, and that can make it difficult to gather my thoughts,"Reaper added, crossing his arms over his chest and facing the bay as sunlight reflected off of the water. "And what is that you are doing up here?"he asked.

"Meditating,"Raven stated flatly like it was obvious.

"It is a calming ritual, then?"Reaper replied.

"You could say that,"Raven answered.

"I can sympathize with that,"Reaper said, having to currently undergo the same thing in dealing with the deaths of his parents and the betrayal of his brother.

"You can?"Raven asked, nonchalantly looking over at him.

"To an extent. I have endured the departure of many of my closest allies recently, but I must hold my emotions in lest I allow myself to be weakened by my losses,"Reaper explained, looking back out at the sea.

Although her reasons weren't exactly the same, Raven understood what he was saying. She too worried about releasing her feelings for fear of what they might cause. But although they shared that, she still had trust issues, and that kept her from being fully empathetic, so instead, she decided to change the topic over to something she'd been meaning to question him about. "You said before that Trigon led those demons, didn't you?"she asked, the speaking of her former father's name still eliciting dark feelings from deep inside her.

"Yes, but thankfully, all of you managed to defeat him. Unfortunately, the usurper of his command is no better,"Reaper told her.

"Someone replaced him?"Raven reiterated as she stood from her telekinetic meditation position with her book still in her hands, the news fresh and unexpected to her.

"Yes, a Comedenti traitor named Reaver,"Reaper replied, noticing the very slight amount of concern in her voice. "But there is no cause for alarm. Without Trigon, there is no efficient way for them to reach this plane of existence. We are safe here, for a time,"he assured.

Catching on to the similarities between their name, Raven arched an eyebrow. "Reaver? Is he-?"

"Related? No. The name is an unfortunate coincidence, nothing more,"Reaper lied, reaching the current limit of his knowledgeable honesty on this matter.

"And how do you know he can't bring them here?"Raven asked.

"I have battled these monstrosities for two prolonged years, and my race itself has been at war with them since long before I was born. We know almost everything there is to be known about the demons, from how they breed to how to best exterminate them,"Reaper said, although truthfully, he did not fully understand his brothers demonically bestowed capabilities.

Raven saw the sense in what he was saying. Unless the demons had some way to use her as a portal again, then he was likely correct."And even if they did manage to find a way, they would have to destroy me first before I let them harm one soul in this dimension, and I am more formidable than I seem,"Reaper continued. "And once I locate the Azarathian, the demons will cease to be a threat...permanently."

"So, why do you need to find her?"Raven inquired after a slight pause, sounding as inconspicuous as possible as their conversation reached a more delicate matter.

"I honestly do not know. All I was told was that she is supposedly the final hope for my people,"Reaper answered. "Perhaps she is, perhaps she is not. Nevertheless, I will take any assistance that can be gathered."

"And what if she's not willing to go?"Raven asked, this question dealing with her thoughts directly.

"If I am unable to persuade her to join me, then I will simply return alone,"Reaper said seriously. "Perhaps I will be able to rally what remains of my race and initiate one final stand. If we are to be wiped out, then it will not be as a simple footnote in history. And if I am all that remains, then I will fight them until my last breath,"he declared resolutely.

Raven nodded slightly, somewhat admiring the nobleness of what he'd said: that he wouldn't force her to go with him, and that he'd lay down his life for his people if it came down to it. But the last time she'd seen someone as honorable, it had backfired and turned out to be a lie, so she cast those thoughts aside. Noticing that the sunlight was fading, she turned to leave the roof, pausing to look over her shoulder at Reaper. "Dinner will probably be ready soon."

"Yes, of course. I suppose I will join you, then. I have not eaten since breakfast,"Reaper replied, following her away from the edge. Once they stepped into the elevator, Raven pressed a button and they began to descend. Since they were in close proximity, Reaper was able to notice something peculiar about the book she was carrying. "The book that you are holding, where did you obtain it from?"he asked curiously.

"My mother. Why?"Raven replied, instinctively squeezing the book a little tighter in her hand as if to protect it from harm.

"That seal, on its cover-it looks strangely familiar. May I see it?"he requested, showing sudden eagerness that didn't fit his normal persona as he held his hand out a bit.

"No,"Raven said automatically, obviously hesitant to hand one of her most prized novels over to a person that she hardly knew.

Noting Raven's hesitation, Reaper looked away from the book and up at her. "You have my word that I will not do anything foolish. I simply wish to examine it closer,"he assured.

"Just be careful with it,"Raven relented, handing the rather large tome over, although still somewhat hesitantly.

"My thanks,"Reaper replied, gently taking the book as his eyes shifted back to its cover. "Hmm...that is strange. I am almost certain that I have seen this symbol before. And this binding...I have only seen its like in the library back home. You said that you received this from your mother?"

"Yes,"Raven replied simply, aware that her background could easily be exposed if she revealed much more to him.

"How odd,"Reaper stated distractedly as he carefully lifted the cover away, allowing his gaze to drift across the first couple of pages. "Even more so is the fact that I am confident that I have seen this very volume before, or at least, another publication of it. Yes, see here"-he pointed out one of the many paragraphs-"I read this exact sentence once, in a book of similar size and make. In fact, this was one of the more entertaining books in the Black City's expansive collection, if memory serves."

"You read?"Raven said, internally surprised by the revelation.

"Certainly. Knowledge is power, and books hold much knowledge,"Reaper replied truthfully before he showed a slight smirk. "Of course, some of them are simply interesting reads,"he added as he flipped the cover back to its normal position, giving the book back to Raven. "Would you happen to have any more of these kinds of books?"

"A whole bookcase,"Raven responded, bringing the book back to her side, although she wasn't holding it so tightly anymore.

"In that case, perhaps you would allow me to take a look in the near future? I can only imagine how much knowledge a sorceress's book collection might hold,"Reaper said.

Normally, anyone requesting entry into her room would make Raven instantly reply with a another solid "no", but the possibility that someone else in the tower could potentially share her interest in reading made her rethink her answer slightly. "Maybe,"she replied simply just as the elevator doors opened.

Reaper gave her a curt nod before gesturing forward. "After you,"he said.

As the two entered the ops center, they were hit by the aroma of recently cooked food and Reaper's mouth involuntarily began to water. Stopping to look around, he noticed that everyone else had gathered around the island counter in the kitchen, all except Cyborg, who was still over by the oven. A soft amber glow filled the room as both the light from the sunset and the lighting overhead mingled, giving the atmosphere an almost peaceful feel as Reaper watched the Titans.

He figured that his arrival probably hadn't thrown off their regular activities too much, since everyone seemed to be conversing and mulling about as if this was daily routine. On one hand, Reaper was grateful that these fellow teenagers had taken him in so easily, but on the other, he felt somewhat like an intruder, on the outside looking in. He knew that, soon enough, his past would catch up to him and shatter the order of things here, and when it did, he would be rightly to blame.

"Yo, Reaper, you hungry?"Cyborg called to him suddenly, pulling him from his thoughts. Focusing his attention on Cyborg, he made his way towards the others.

"Ravenous,"Reaper corrected, rejoining everyone else as their dinner was laid out in front of them. Taking their plates, everybody coalesced at the dining tables, where Raven was already seated with a mug of some dark liquid that was seemingly her only nourishment. After sitting, the Titans almost instantly dug into their food, which consisted of short, but thick strips of meat and what Reaper could only describe as a cloud-on-a-plate. As the soldier scrutinized his plate, Cyborg looked over and noticed his hesitation.

"Don't tell me y'all don't have fried chicken and mashed potatoes where you're from,"he said, the same disbelief from Reaper's lack of breakfast knowledge earlier showing again.

"No, I do not believe we did,"Reaper replied, quickly cutting a chunk off of one of the pieces of meat and sticking it in his mouth so as not to possibly offend the cook. "But it is good,"he added before beginning to chew, the unfamiliar taste soon obliterating any reservations he may have held towards Cyborg's cooking. After swallowing, he tasted the mashed potatoes, once again surprised by the deliciousness of what he could only assume was another delicacy of the human world.

As Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg all tore into their own meals and conversed with one another, Reaper couldn't help but notice the small, white cubes on Beast Boy's plate and how incredibly different it was from the rest of their food. "What is it that you are having?"he inquired, using his fork to point at the shapeshifter's dish.

Excitement suddenly showed in Beast Boy's eyes at the fact that another tofu lover could possibly be in the house, waiting for his taste buds to be awakened. "It's tofu. Wanna try?"he asked, pushing his plate towards Reaper.

"I suppose so,"Reaper replied, sticking his fork into one of the cubes and beginning to eat it whole without a second thought. Unfortunately for the both of them, it didn't exactly fit his tastes and he had to force himself to choke it down.

"So, what'd you think?"Beast Boy asked with a toothy grin, getting his hopes up too high.

"Let us just say that it did not agree with my stomach,"Reaper answered as a disgusted shiver ran through him, causing a bummed-out air to emanate from Beast Boy.

"Man, I hate being the only vegetarian,"the changeling groaned, pulling his plate back towards himself.

"My apologies, but I do not believe any Comedenti would be able to become a vegetarian. Our teeth are meant to be sunk into meat,"Reaper informed Beast Boy, showing him his incisor-filled mouth. Thankfully, his food had been shredded so thoroughly by these teeth that none of it remained behind to embarrass him.

"Whoa...creepy,"Beast Boy said, leaning closer to get a good look at the razor-sharp teeth.

"Yes, but who ever said that creepy was a bad thing,"Reaper grinned fiendishly, attempting to be humorous with the young hero before he started eating again.

"You sound like Raven. We should put some weird statues in your room,"Beast Boy joked, catching an irritated look from the empath who sat beside him as she drank from her mug.

"Only if they come in the form of skulls. My room at home was adorned with them,"Reaper said with a chuckle, allowing more of his personality to show now that he'd become better acquainted with everyone.

"At least someone has good taste in decoration,"Raven said quietly, speaking for the first time during the meal.

"Hey, I have good decorations too,"Beast Boy declared, quickly being shut down by Raven.

"Your room is a mess,"she retorted matter-of-factly.

"Exactly. That is the decoration,"Beast Boy said, as if it was obvious. "A true artist would understand if he saw it."

"Yes, if that artist was blind,"Reaper added in jest. Although he had never seen the changeling's room, he couldn't stop himself from letting that response out, as if it was natural. It instantly felt as if he was back home, before he was thrust into the command of the military, when he and his few friends would sit at the school's lunch table and throw playful jabs at each other while they conversed. The memory quickly left his mind, though, as he remembered that things were different in this situation and he suddenly hoped he hadn't said something out of line.

To Reaper's relief, neither of the two showed any sign of that, and he could even see a small smirk form on Raven's lips. Noticing this as well, Beast Boy complained,"Aw, how come you never even smile at my jokes?"

"Your jokes aren't funny,"Raven replied flatly, even though she'd mentioned a couple of times before how sometimes, and only sometimes, he was indeed funny. She just never let herself show it.

Beast Boy sighed, obviously somewhat deflated. In an effort to cheer him up, Reaper said,"Do not worry. I am not from here, so I will likely find one of your jokes amusing." This seemed to do the trick, and Beast Boy sat up a little straighter as he finished his meal.

After all of the teens had cleared their plates (and a mug), the same routine from breakfast took place, with Robin gathering up all of the leftovers and taking them to the dishwasher. Since there were not nearly as many dishes as there were earlier, Reaper hadn't offered his help, and no one seemed even the slightest bit perturbed by it. This was just yet another occurrence that made him grateful for their hospitality. It felt as though the Titans were used to having extra guests in their home, and that he was just one of the many people that these teenage superheroes had felt obligated to help over the course of their long-lived protection of this city.

Although Reaper still had his goals set firmly in front of him, he couldn't stop himself from hoping that, through befriending the Titans and pulling his own weight, they would allow him to stay for a prolonged period of time in their home. If he could retain a place of respite up until he, and hopefully the Azarathian too, marched off into the inevitable final battle against the Vehements, then he would be forever in their debt. That was, if he managed to survive the onslaught of the demons that he knew would come.

He quickly cast that sobering thought aside, immediately noticing how tired he'd become. Although the sun had only set a short time ago, Reaper's body was still recovering from the fog of war that he had been engulfed in only days ago. Before he'd arrived in this world, he'd been fighting for hours on end, sometimes well into the night and even into the next day. Paired with the mental trauma he'd endured shortly before his arrival, his internal clock was practically broken, and all he knew was that a reliable sleeping schedule would be necessary to repair it.

Rising from the dining booth, he addressed the Titans directly. "I believe that I will be turning in early tonight. The events of the previous days seem to have taken it out of me. So I bid you all a good night and a good sleep,"he said. After receiving similar farewells from almost everyone, he turned and left the room, headed directly for his quarters, where sleep soon took him deep into its comforting embrace.

A couple of hours later, back in the living room, the Titans were just now starting to feel the effects of fatigue. Before they separated, Robin gathered them all around the coffee table in front of the sofa for another debriefing, similar to the one they'd had the night before after they'd locked Reaper in his room. Looking around at his team as he stood on the opposite side of the table from them, he began to speak.

"I think it's time we made a decision on what we want to do with Reaper. We've only had a day to get to know him, but I trust that you've all managed to form some kind of opinion about him. I want to hear what he said to you and what all of you have to say before deciding whether we should help him or not,"he stated.

With that, each of the heroes began to share the pieces of information they'd gathered from their mysterious new guest, until they all knew the same things about him. Although Reaper had spent the most amount of time with Cyborg and Beast Boy, they didn't have much to say about him, other than the fact that he actually had some level of skill at videogames. Oddly enough, the two female Titans had significantly more to say about him, especially Starfire, with whom he'd already formed a friendly connection. Lastly, Robin told the others the same story Reaper had told him, although without going into much detail.

After much deliberation, the decision was finally made, although, in truth, it hadn't been a difficult one. Having been sociable with everyone, Reaper had made a good second impression, and the choice of allowing him to stay was ultimately unanimous. As the Titans all said their goodnights and got up to make their way sleepily towards their bedrooms, Robin stopped Raven before they entered the hallway that split off to the separate wings of the upper floor.

"Have you told Reaper who you are yet?"he inquired, although the question was asked like it was coming from her friend rather than her leader.

"No. I haven't found a good time,"Raven lied. Truthfully, she could've easily told him during their conversation on the roof, but she was still skeptical of what the soldier's reaction might be.

Her lie was easily seen through, though, as Robin had been keeping tabs on Reaper and the others all day, and he knew that she simply hadn't felt comfortable doing it yet. "Okay, I understand. Just don't rush it. It'd probably be best if you waited until we know more about him, anyways,"he said, smiling somewhat in an effort to possibly give her a little assurance and peace-of-mind on the timing of the revelation.

Raven smiled ever so slightly in return before giving Robin a nod and disappearing into the darkness of the corridor, thankful for her friend's relaxed attitude of the situation as they both went opposite ways.


End file.
